.us Chanson de Roland

What do the characters look like? Why are no visual details

given for some, certain details for others? Do the variations

justify the repeated elements?

Compare and contrast the emphasis on rhetorical ability in

.us Roland

and

.us Njala.

Consider the hypothesis that

.us Mult ad apris ki bien conuis ahan

(2524) is the poem's "message."

Are the moral implications of the poem transparent?

Test Jenkin's proposition (xlii): "Roland is not the same person

he was at the beginning: he has greatly developed, and we find

here the orderly progression within unity which Aristotle

demanded of the epic."

Would this poem provoke you to visit Roncevalles?

What are the moments of deepest feeling in the poem?

What are those feelings?

How are they represented? What values are at stake?

What aspects of character reveal themselves at these moments?

Make an attempt to

defend Baligant I and II as integral parts of the poem.

.ce PIOUS VIOLENCE

According to Augustine,

.us De Civitate Dei,

Migne P: XLI.35

war might be waged by the command of God. In the sixth century,

Isidore of Seville wrote: "men whose wisdom and courage make

them worthy of heaven are called heros." In the 9th century,

Pope Leo IV decreed that anyone dying in battle defending the

church (in this case, against Arabs or Vikings)

would receive heavenly reward (Mansi,

.us Concilia

xiv, p.888). Again in the ninth century, Pope John VIII decreed

that victims of holy war ranked as martyrs. If they died armed

in battle, their sins would be remitted, but soldier should be

pure in heart. MPL CXXVI cols. 696, 717, 816.

Eastern church -- St. Basil -- anyone guilty of killing in war

should refrain three years from taking communion as a sign of

repentance: letter 188 MPG XXXII col. 681. See Ingeld and

Christ.

.ce HISTORICAL BASIS

In Einhard's life, Roland is

.us Britanici limitis prafectas.

Resemblances to Bohemund of Antioch in

.us Chanson?

Charles had been in league with one group of Saracens against

another. The Basques not Saracens killed Roland.

Turpin (Tilpinus) was the name of an actual

archbishop of Rheims (753-794)

who died before Charles, but after Roncevaux (778). "Bishop Odo

of Bayeux, at the battle of Hastings, rode armed with a club,

churchmen being forbidden to shed the blood of fellow Christians."

(Jenkins). Turpin also resembles the bishop-leader of the first

Crusade, Adhemar of le Puy.

Christian forces in the First Crusade estimated

350,000-600,000.

Battle of Roncevaux resembles battle of Zalaca in 1086.

23% of the vocabulary is not in dictionary of Modern French.

Most important Anglo-Norman trait is reduction of (ie) to (e).

Average strophe 14 lines long.

Laisse I opens geographically, naming Spain, Saragossa, Marsilion,

God, Mahomet, Apollo in the first 8 lines; the tenth line predicts

the outcome of the poem for Marsilion. Charles has been

in Spain 7 years, Virgil introduces Aeneas in the 7th year of

his wandering.

Laisse II Marsilion at Saragossa in a garden, like Charles in

laisse VIII, lying on a

.us perron

(block of stone)

of blue marble, surrounded by 20,000 men. He addresses his nobles,

referring to

.us France dulce,

declaring his troops unequal to the task of defeating the French.

Only Blancandrin is capable of offering verbal responses, since he is

Laisse III

.us des plus saives paienes

(24); poet gives him positive chivalric qualities, and a 32-line

speech in which he advises Marsilion to send gifts, precisely

numbered and splendid, promising to follow Charles to Aix and

conversion, offering 10-20 hostages (including Blancandrin's

own son), asserting that it is better that the hostages die

than that Marsilion lose

.us l'onur...deintet

and be reduced to begging.

IV Blancandrin swears by his right hand and the beard that

floats on his chest that the French will return to France; when

the Arabs don't show up, the

hostages will lose their heads, which is better than losing

.us clere Espaigne la bele

(59). The pagans ensemble reply "perhaps," in effect.

V Marsilion calls his nobles together, 10 including

Blancandrin, and tells them to carry out Blancandrin's

scheme.

VI repeats the tenor of V.

VII the gifts and ambassadors arrive; Charles cannot

avoid being deceived (wyrd, perhaps)

.co off

.in 5 -5

Nes poet guarder que alques ne l'engignent (95)

.co on

.in 0

as Marsilion could not avoid

.us mals:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Nes poet guarder que mals ne l'i ateignet (9)

.co on

.in 0

VIII Charles is delighted with taking Cordres, booty,

conversions. Like Marsilion in laisse 2, he is in a garden.

Charles has 7 peers with him at this point: Roland, Oliver,

Samson, Anseis, Geoffrey of Anjou (who will be

the only survivor of Roncevaux), Gerin and Gerier.

15,000 knights sit on silk, play chess, fight mock battles.

Charles sits under a pine, near a rose bush, on a throne of

pure gold, subjected to a brief

.us effictio,

giving him so distinguished an appearance that no one need

look for him

.co off

.in 5 -5

La siet li reis ki dulce France tient.

Blanche ad la barbe e tut flurit le chef,

Gent ad le cors e le cuntenant fier:

S'est kil demandet, ne l'estoet enseigner. (116-119)

.co on

.in 0

The laisse ends with the ambassadors offering false front:

.co off

.in 5 -5

E li message descendirent a pied,

Sil saluerent par amur e par bien (120-121)

.co on

.in 0

IX Blancandrin begins his speech with expression of

would-be piety, then offer of gifts, with numbers and specific

detail again. ll. 128-132 list the gifts, and offer a variation

of ll. 30-34:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Vos li durrez urs e leons e chens,

Set cenz camelz e mil hosturs muers,

D'or e d'argent .IIII.C muls cargez,

Cinquante carre qu'en ferat carier:

Ben en purrat luer ses soldeiers. (30-34)

Urs e leuns e veltres enchaignez,

Set cenz cameilz e mil hosturs muez,

D'or e d'argent .III. cenz mulz trussez,

Cinquante care que carier en ferez;

Tant i avrat de basanz esmerez

Dunt bien purrez voz soldeiers luer. (128-133)

.co on

.in 0

Again, in

XIII Charles addresses his men, repeating and summarizing

what Blancandrin said to Marsilion and to Charles:

.co off

.in 5 -5

De sun avier me voelt duner grant masse,

Urs e leuns e veltres caeignables,

Set cenz cameilz e mil hosturs muables,

Quatre cenz mulz cargez de l'or d'Arabe.

Avoec i$o plus de cinquante care.

.co on

.in 0

Here in laisse IX, Charles stretches his hands towards God,

bows his head and thinks in the last 2 lines of the laisse.

X:

Silence, not speech, would therefore seem to be a sign of

reliable ruler, or, as the poet indicates in the next lines:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Li emperes en tint sun chef enclin.

De sa parole ne fut mie hastifs,

Sa custume est qu'il parolet a leisir. (139-141)

.co on

.in 0

Now Charles compliments the ambassadors for having spoken well,

.us ben dit,

but he asks for guarantees. They offer 10, 15, or 20 hostages

and conversion. Charles finishes the laisse with hope:

.us Uncore purrat guarir.

Check Brault for problems with meaning of this line.

XI: opens with the

.us met>o:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Bels fut le vespres e li soleilz fut cler.

.co on

.in 0

Charles now takes care of the duties of a host,

finding lodging for the 10 ambassadors, placing 12 servants

at their disposal. In the morning he gets up and goes to

mass, then heads for the pine tree to consult with the peers:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Ses baruns mandet pur sun cunseill finer:

Par cels de France voelt il del tut errer. (166-67)

.co on

.in 0

XII: Under a pine tree Charles assembles his nobles,

now 12 of them, with Ganelon the 13th, identified immediately

by his later action, with anticipation of the outcome in the

last line of the laisse:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Guenes i vint, ki la tra`sun fist.

Des ore cumencet le cunseill que mal prist. (178-179)

.co on

.in 0

XIII Charles addresses his men, in a variation of the

words used by Blancandrin to Marsilion and to Charles (see above),

indicating his predicament:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Mais jo ne sai quels en est sis curages. (191)

.co on

.in 0

XIV The first to reply, parallel to Blancandrin earlier,

Roland advises complete distrust. He enumerates the

French triumphs in Spain, or rather his own, and he recalls

a previous betrayal by Marsilion that resulted in the loss of

Basan and Basilies (Possible historical parallel: in 1100

Tancred sent 6 messengers to the Emir of Damascus to demand

surrender; the Emir killed 5 of them).

He advises marching immediately on Saragossa.

Problems in his first speech: is the egoism appropriate?

Clearly the military advice is correct.

XV Charles again falls silent, strokes his beard and

mustache. The French remain silent, except for Ganelon, who gets

up and attacks Roland as a

.us bricun

(220) who offers

.us Cunseill d'orguill

(228). Ganelon concludes the laisse with one of the many

antinomies in the poem:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Laissum les fols, as sages nus tenuns! (229)

.co on

.in 0

XVI Naimes now speaks; in Marsilion's camp only Blancandrin

spoke at the comparable point; in Charles' camp a discussion

or debate ensues among 3 men. Later in the discussion others also

wil speak. Naimes supports Ganelon's position,

and the French end the laisse by concurring:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Dient Fran$ais: "Ben ad parlet li dux." 243

.co on

.in 0

XVII. Charles asks whom shall he send to Saragossa

and Naimes offers to take the glove and baton. The king turns him

down:

.us Vos estes saives hom

(248).

XVIII Roland volunteers, but Oliver argues against him:

.us Vostre curages est mult pesmes e fiers

(256). Oliver volunteers, but the king tells them both to

shut up. He will not send any of the 12 peers.

XIX Turpin of Rheims gets up and volunteers, but Charles

angrily rejects him, giving no reason.

XX Charles tells his barons to choose someone to send.

Roland now volunteers his

.us parastre

(277) Ganelon, and the French concur:

.us n'i trametrez plus saive

(279). Ganelon is upset, and the poet describes his clothing,

his eyes, face, physique, and insists that his physical

beauty was exceptional. He attacks Roland, addressing him as

.us fol,

threatening to get even if he returns. Roland replies:

.us Orgoill oi e folage

(292). He is still willing to go himself, if the king permits.

XXI Ganelon says that Roland cannot take his place,

invoking the language of vassaldom:

.us Tu n'ies mes hom ne jo ne sui tis sire

(297).

He threatens to perform

.us un poi de legerie

(300) to alleviate his rage, and Roland laughs to end the laisse.

In XXXIX Marsilion will apologize to Ganelon for

.us alques de legerie.

XXII Ganelon is aggravated by Roland's laughter,

.us A ben petit que il ne pert le sens

(305); he declares his lack of love for his nephew,

accusing him of having made

.us fals juegement,

and turns to Charles, accepting his order.

XXIII His speech continues, as he declares that his

return is unlikely, that his wife is Charles' sister, and that

he has a son named Baldwin, to whom he leaves his lands and

fiefs. He commends him to the care of Charles,

.us Guadez le ben, ja nel verrai des oilz

(316). Charles remarks on his sensibility,

.us Tro avez tendre coer

(317) and sends him on his way.

XXIV Charles gives him the glove and the baton, saying

that the French have chosen him, but Ganelon says

.us $o ad tut fait Rollant!

and he vows not to love him, Oliver, or the 12 peers because

they love Roland, going so far as to offer a challenge:

.us Desfi les en, sire, vostre veiant

(326). The king accuses of of

.us trop mal talant

and sends him on his way. Thus Charles accuses him of an

excess of emotions in two consecutive stanzas.

Ganelon ends the laisse by

alluding to Basille and Basant, whom the Saracens had

treacherously killed (330).

XXV When the emperor hands the glove to Ganelon

it drops to the ground. The sequence of sentences suggests

that this is the result of Ganelon's unwillingness to be there.

The FRench wonder aloud about the significance of the portent,

seeing that it points to

.us grant perte

(335).

Ganelon ends the laisse with not prediction:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Seigneurs," dist Guenes, "vos en orrez noveles!" (336)

.co on

.in 0

XXVI a five-line laisse, in which Ganelon asks for and

receives permission to leave, and Charles absolves him and

makes a sign of the cross over him, like a priest-king, if not

exactly out of the Old Testament.

XXVII A laisse sympathetic to Guenes,

begins with a description of Ganelon preparing

for his journey, putting on his spurs, his sword

.us Murglies,

mounting his horse

.us Tachebrun,

which is held by his uncle Guinemer (348).

The poet says that many men wept for what was about to

happen to this

.us Noble vassal

(352). They blame Roland for proposing him, wrongly because of his

.us mult grant parented

(356), and they ask to be taken with Ganelon, who turns them

down, preferring, he says, to sacrifice himself for them.

He sends regards to his wife, to his friend and peer

Pinabel (who will defend him unsuccessfully at the end of the poem),

to his son, whom they are to obey as lord, and he

rides off in the last line of the laisse. Thus he is

established in terms of feudal and familial relationships.

XXVIII Ganelon rides under tall olive trees and

meets the Saracen ambassadors, together with Blancandrin,

who praises Charles' military accomplishments in Apulia,

Calabria, and England, where he collected Peter's Pence,

and ask what Charles wants in Spain. Ganelon replies,

.us Itels est sis curages

(375), and that no one was ever his equal. Historically,

Apulia and Calabria were not captured until 1042 and 1059.

Saxon kings themselves had collected Peter's Pence; Offa of

Mercia (755-794), or Ina (688-726). These activities, however,

would further legitimitize William the Bastard's conquest and

attempt to reinstate Peter's Pence.

XXIX Blancandrin now speaks four lines, beginning

with a compliment to French, but modulating into a

complaint about their present course of action.

Ganelon replies with a denunciation of Roland, in the course

of which he provides a scene with details not given previously.

According to Ganelon, the other morning Roland came fresh from

victory at Carcassone with an apple in his hand, which he presented

to his uncle, ironically calling it the crowns of all the kings:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Tenez, bel sire, dist Rollant a sun uncle,

De trestuz reis vos present les curunes. (387-88)

.co on

.in 0

Ganelon accuses Roland of

.us orgoilz,

recounting the story of Roland presenting a golden apple to

Charles, to symbolize the kingdoms he would win for him.

Ganelon expresses the wish that someone would come along and kill

Roland, otherwise there will be no peace.

XXX Blancandrin joins the attack on Roland. Ganelon

implies that Roland has bought the favor of the French, including

that of Charles (398-399).

XXXI Riding along together, Ganelon and Blancandrin

resolve to find a way

.us que Rollant fust ocis.

They arrive at Marsilion's encampment, with 20,000 Saracens

present, all hushed in anticipation of the news to be announced.

XXXII Blancandrin comes before Marsilion, holding

Ganelon by the fist. In the name of Mahomet and Apollo, he

introduces Ganelon, describes Charles silent reaction to

the message he delivered, and Marsilion tells him to speak.

XXXIII

.us Guenes se fut ben purpenset

(425), and delivers his official message, as provocatively

as possible, threatening to bring Marsilion by force to

Aix if he does not submit to Charles and baptism. The laisse

ends with Marsilion being restrained from throwing a spear

with gold pennant.

XXXIV a ten-line laisse, in which Marsilion changes

color, shakes his spear, while Ganelon puts his hand on his

sword, drawing it out the length of 2 fingers, and apostrophizes it,

prepared to take some Saracens with him in death.

XXXV The other Saracens, led by

.us l'algalifes,

calm Marsilion down somewhat.

Only one caliph possible, but in the 10th century Abd-er Rahman

III called himself Caliph, asserting Cordova to be the center of

the Moslem world. Al khalifah, the "successor" of Mahomet. In

Spain the title disappears after 1060. Ganelon throws off his

.us mantel sabelin

and the Saracens admire him as he stands brandishing his sword:

.us Noble baron ad ci!

(467).

XXXVI Ganelon now approaches the king and tells him to

accept Christianity and one half of Spain, to be shared with

Roland (

.us Mult orguillos par$uner i avrez

476), both of them subject to Charles.

He now finishes the threats Charles apparently told him

to issue, placing the document in Marsilion's right hand, ending

the laisse.

XXXVII Marsilion, enraged, opens the letter and reads

it. He reports it in indirect discourse; Charles reminds him of

Basan and Basille, and demands that he send his uncle,

.us l'algalife.

Marsilion now accuse Ganelon of speaking

.us folie,

and wants to kill him. Ganelon brandishes his sword and stands

with his back to a pine tree.

XXXVIII Marsilion enters the garden, bringing with him

his best men. Blancandrin,

.us al canud peil,

Jufaret, Marsilion's son and heir, and l'Agalife, his uncle.

Blancandrin tells him to call Ganelon, who has pledged his faith

to Blancandrin, and the king does so. The laisse ends,

.us La purparolent la traisun seinz dreit.

XXXIX Marsilion addresses him as

.us Bel sire Guenes,

and apologizes for what he calls

.us alques de legerie.

See laisse XXI for Ganelon's use of

.us legerie.

As proof of his good will, he offers sable skins worth, he says,

500 pounds gold. Ganelon accepts, with a pious formula, suggesting

that God will reward Marsilion for his behavior, as the last

line of the laisse.

XL Marsilion proclaims himself capable of loving Ganelon,

voices the opinion that Charles is 200 years old, and wonders

when he will tire of fighting. In 778 Charles was 36 years old.

He died at the age of 72.

See the legendary years to which Ogier lives in Jeandout.

Ganelon heaps praise upon

Charles as non-pareil, loyal to his barons.

XLI Marsilion repeats his remarks about Charles' age,

conquests, physical suffering, and Ganelon now says that Charles

will never stop as long as Roland and Oliver live, with some credit

to 12 peers also, and the vanguard of 20,000

.us chevalers.

XLII A third time Marsilion describes Charles as old,

weary with conquest. A third time he asks the question:

.co off

Quant ert il mais recreanz d'osteier? (528)

Quant ert il mais recreanz d'osteier? (543)

Quant ier il mais d'osteier recreant? (556)

.co on

Ganelon repeats himself; Roland, Oliver, the 12 peers are his

surety,

.us Sours est Carles, ne crent hume vivant

(562).

XLIII Marsilion declares that he has 400,000

.us chevalers,

but Ganelon tells him:

.us Lessez la folie, tenez vos al saveir

(569). Give hostages and goods and the emperor will return to

Aix. Roland and Oliver,

.us li proz e li curteis,

will be in charge of the rearguard. When they are dead, Charles

will have no more desire for war against Arabs.

XLIV Begins with a broken first line. Marsile asks

Ganelon how to kill Roland and Ganelon concocts the plan, or

rather repeats what he said in the previous laisse. Send

100,000 Arabs against the 20,000 Frenchmen.

XLV Roland dead,

.us Dunc perdreit Carles le destre braz del cors

(597). Marsilion kisses Ganelon's neck; the last line of the

laisse puzzles B>dier; check Brault. Tere Major in O, while

some MSS have tere d'Espaigne.

XLVI a six-line laisse with fragmentary first two lines.

check Brault. Ganelon swears

.us sur les reliques de s'espee Murgleis.

XLVII throne of ivory -- law of Mahomet and Tervagan in

a book upon which Marsilion swears to kill Roland. ends

with Ganelon wishing him well in his project.

XLVIII Valdabrus,

.us en riant,

comes forward and gives

.us par amistiez

(622) his sword, worth 1000

.us manguns,

to Ganelon. They exchange kisses on face and chin.

XLIX Climorins,

.us en riant,

gives his helmet to Ganelon. They kiss on mouth and face.

L Queen Bramimunde sends to Ganelon's wife 2 golden

necklaces, with amethyst and hyacinthe. He accepts them and places

them in his hose.

LI Marsilion's treasurer summoned, reports that 700 camels

have been loaded with gold and silver, and 20 hostages,

.us des plus gentilz desuz cel,

(646) are ready.

LII Marsilion takes Ganelon by the shoulders, declares him

.us ber e sage,

promises him more treasure, gives him keys to the city. Ganelon's

replies tersely,

.us Mei est vis que trop targe

(659), mounts his horse and rides away in the last line of the laisse.

LIII The emperor arrives at a town not yet identified,

Galne (Geln in O). Beta group gives Valterne (Valterra), one of

Roland's conquests, l. 199. Deserted for 100 years after Roland's

victory, although some msss. give 7 years. Charles waits here,

and Ganelon arrives at dawn.

LIV Charles gets up, hears mass, sets up his tent on the

green grass, with present Roland, Oliver, Naimes and others.

Ganelon arrives,

.us li fels, li parjurez

(674). The poet leaves no doubt about where sympathies should

lie. Ganelon's speech is characterized

.us par grant veisdie

(675). He presents Charles with the keys to the city, gifts,

20 hostages. To explain the absence of the Algalife,

he says that he saw 400,000 Saracens well equipped

head out to sea, fleeing Marsilion and conversion to Christianity,

only to be destroyed in a storm. The others, he claims,

will follow Charles

.us vers dulce France.

Charles praises Ganelon for a job well done, the French break up

camp,

.us Vers dulce France tuit sunt achiminez.

LV some fragments here also. Roland raises the standard,

the French spread out an encampment, and the pagans ride through

the broad valleys, halt in a forest, and make camp, all 400,000

of them. The last line of the laisse expresses concern for the French:

.us Deus! quel dulur que li Franceis nel sevent

(716).

LVI Night: Charles dreams that at the gates of Cize he and

Ganelon struggle with a lance.

LVII A second dream: at Aix a bear bites his right arm,

then a leopard from the direction of Ardennes attacks him.

A third animal,

.us uns veltres,

comes from the hall, cuts off the right ear from the bear

and fights the leopard. The French express their admiration,

cannot determine the winner, and the laisse ends with Charles

still asleep. Boar=Ganelon, leopard=Pinabel, hound=thierry.`

LVIII Dawn: second line truncated. Emperor rides forth,

asks his men to choose

.us rereguarde

(742). Ganelon offers his

.us fillastre

Roland. Angered, Charles calls Ganelon

.us vifs diables.

Who will be the vanguard, he asks, and Ganelon replies Ogier

the Dane -- no one can do it better.

LIX Roland says to his

.us parastre

that he will perofrm well as rearguard: Charles will not lose

a single animal. Ganelon replies:

.us "Veir dites, jol sai bien"

(760).

LX 5 lines only, found only in O; Jenkins doubts its

authenticity. Angry, Roland calls Ganelon

.us culvert, malvais hum de put aire

(763), reminding him that he let the baton drop.

LXI Roland tells Charles to put the bow

in his fist. Charles says nothing, but weeps.

LXII Naimes tells Charles that he must give the bow

(foot-soldier's weapon) to Roland, presumably because of the

rules of feudal game, with appearance of influence for barons.

Yet once more the power of the word. Charles complies with the

same rule that made Ganelon ambassador to Saracens.

LXIII Charles offers half his army to Roland, who insists

on taking only 20,000.

LXIV Roland mounts his horse and is joined by Oliver,

Gerin, Gerier, Oton, B>rengier, Astor, old Anseis, Gerard de

Roussillon, Gaifer, archbishop Turpin, Gautier, and chooses

.us XX. milie chevalers.

LXV Roland tells Gualter de l'Hum to take 1000 men and

guard the passes and heights, and Walter does so.

LXVI The first instance of

.us Halt sunt li pui e li val tenebrus

(814), apparently to foreshadow events.

The French enter their homeland and begin thinking of

their land and families:

.us Cel nen i ad ki de pitet ne plurt

(822). Charles is even more

.us anguissus

because he has left Roland

.us As porz d'Espaigne.

The laisse ends with him in tears.

LXVII Recapitulation: unable to hide his tears, Charles

tells Naimes his dream and its significance:

.us Par Guenelun serat destruite France

(835). Detail not given earlier: vision came by way of an angel.

Last line on irreplacibility of Roland:

.us Deus! se jol pert, ja n'en avrai escange

(840).

LXVIII Charles weeps; 100,000 French sympathize with

him and fear for Roland. Repeat of Ganelon's part. Meanwhile

Marsilion gathers

.co off

.in 5 -5

baruns,

Cuntes, vezcuntes e duz e alm$urs,

Les amirafles e les filz as cunturs.

.co on

.in 0

400,000 assemble in three days. They worship Mahomet and ride

forth until they see the French banners.

LXIX Marsilion's nephew (symmetry)

.us en riant,

riding

.us un mulet,

delivers a

.us gab,

asking his uncle for permission

.us un feu

("fief") to strike Roland. Marsilion gives him the glove for it.

LXX nephew now asks for 12 barons to accompany him.

Volunteers come forward. First is Falsaron, Marsilion's brother.

LXXI King Corsalis from Barbary, specialist in

.us males arz,

volunteers, and then Malprimis de Brigant.

LXXII an amiral of Balaguer comes forth,

.us Fust chrestiens, asez o~st barnet,

offering a

.us gab.

LXXIII

.us almacurs de Moriane

offers his

.us gab.

He is described as the most

.us felun

in Spain (910)

LXXIV Turgis de Tortelose's gab: Mahomet is superior to St.

Peter. He wants to try his sword against

.us Durendal

(926).

LXXV Escremiz de Valterne's

.us gab: Franceis murrunt e France en ert deserte

(938)

LXXVI Esturgant and Estramariz, both

.us felun, tra`tur,

in dialogue with Marsilion, offer

.us gab.

LXXVII Maragariz of Seville, popular with women, his sword a gift

of the >mir of Primes, envisions encamping at St.-Denis.

LXXVIII Chernuble de Munigre, powerful, from unpleasant land,

where the sun never shines, wheat does not grow, stones are all

black, where devils live. He also draws his sword to challenge

Durendal. Last line violates prosody?

.us sapide?

LXXIX pagans arm themselves (cf. Homer and Vergil).

.us Clers fut li jurz e bels fut li soleilz

(1002). They make enough noise to be heard by the French:

Oliver remarks to Roland that they are about to fight. Roland

represents himself as eager, and defines the role of an ideal

vassal :

.co off

.in 5 -5

Pur sun seignor deit hom susfrir destreiz

E endurer e granz chalz e granz freiz,

Sin deit hom perdre e del quir e del peil. (1010-1012)

.co on

.in 0

His motivation is in terms of the

.us aefterqueppendra:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Que malvaise can$un de nus chantet ne seit! (1014)

.co on

.in 0

Which leads immediately to one of the central antitheses of the

poem

.co off

.in 5 -5

Paien unt tort e chrestiens unt dreit (1015).

.co on

.in 0

Thus vassal and Christian function simultaneously.

LXXX First line truncated, with Oliver on a hill,

watching the oncoming pagans. He calls Roland's attention

to the sound and sights and blames Ganelon,

.us li fel, li tra`tur

(1024). Roland tells him to shut up:

.us Mis parrastre est, ne voeill que mot en suns.

LXXXI first line the same as in previous laisse, with repetition

of the visual aspects of the pagans' approach. countless-topos.

Oliver hurries to warn the French.

LXXXII He says that there are 100,000 men, asks God's help,

and they promise to behave properly.

LXXXIII Oliver tells Roland to sound his horn:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Cumpaign Rollant, kar sunez vostre corn,

Si l'orrat Carles, si returnerat l'ost. (1051-52)

.co on

.in 0

Roland refuses:

.co off

.in 5 -5

En dulce France en perdreie mun los.

.co on

.in 0

Instead he will strike great blows with Durendal against

.us Felun pa`en.

LXXXIV A second time Oliver asks Roland

.us l'olifan car sunez

(1059), but Roland claims to be defending

.us mi parent

and

.us France dulce

from shame. Durendal alone will do.

LXXXV a third time

.us sunez vostre olifan

(1070). Roland again refuses, with

.us Ne placet Deu

(1073) a variation of

.us Ne placet Damnedeu

(1062). He will deliver 1700 blows.

LXXXVI Oliver sees no blame involved in blowing the horn,

since a simple, straightforward antithesis is the case:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Granz sunt les oz de cele gent estrange;

Nus i avum mult petite cumpaigne. (1086-87).

.co on

.in 0

Roland picks up the motif by referring to the size of his desire:

.us Mis talenz en est graigne.

Again he returns to pleasing God:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Ne placet Damnedeu ne ses anges

Que ja pur mei perdet sa valur France! (1089-1090)

.co on

.in 0

His final contrast is

.us murir...huntage.

LXXXVII first line offers first instance of

.us Rollant est proz e Oliver est sage.

Both have

.us merveillus vasselage

(1094). Oliver reminds Roland that he should have sounded the horn,

but Roland considers such an act

.us ultrage

(1106)

LXXXVIII Roland a lion, a leopard; he repeats feudal ideal:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Pur sun seignur deit hom susfrir granz mals

E endurer e forz freiz e granz chalz,

Sin deit hom perdre del sanc e de la char. (1117-1119)

.co on

.in 0

Compare with his earlier version

.co off

.in 5 -5

Pur sun seignor deit hom susfrir destreiz

E endurer e granz chalz e granz freiz,

Sin deit hom perdre e del quir e del peil. (1010-1012)

.co on

.in 0

Last line a fragment,

.us noble vassal.

LXXXIX Turpin offers absolution and sainthood to those who fight.

Cf. Crusader rhetoric., put forward at council of Clermont

by Urban II. Late 8th century, late 11th and 12th

centuries mingle.

XC French receive absolution, mount their horses. Roland now

says what he would not tolerate Oliver saying earlier: Ganelon

has betrayed them for

.us or e aveir e deners

(1148), and he imagines Charles' vengeance. Laisse finishes

with a battle-joke involving sword and merchandise exchange.

XCI Roland's horse

.us Veillantif

(1153). Finally an

.us effictio

of Roland, but highly abstract:

.us Cors ad mult gent, le vis cler e riant

(1159). More symmetry, this time in his regard:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Vers Sarrazins reguardet fierement

E vers Franceis humeles e dulcement. (1162-63)

.co on

.in 0

He speaks to his men

.us curteisement

(1164).

XCII Oliver again on the

.us olifans,

then the French call to battle,

.us Munjoie

(1181).

XCIII Marsilion's nephew Aelroth out front, calls out

.us Feluns Francais,

taunts them with being betrayed:

.us Fols est li reis ki vos laissat as porz

(1193). Charles will lose his right hand, etc. Roland kills

him, with a blow that cleaves his spine, then addresses the corpse as

.us Culvert,

proclaims

.us carles n'est mie fols. Laisse finishes with yet another

antithesis:

.us Nos avum dreit, mais cist glutun unt tort

(1212).

XCIV Now Falsaron, Marsilion's brother, holder of Dathan and

Abirun,

.us felun,

so big that space between his eyes was half a foot. Seeing his

nephew dead, he charges forward, is met by Oliver, who strikes

him dead, insults him as

.us culvert,

and shouts

.us Munjoie!

XCV king Corsablix, from Barbary, comes forward with a challenge;

he also points out that the Arabs are many and the Christians

few, recalling the remarks made by the Crusader historians.

Turpin takes up the challenge and kills Corsablix, addressing

the corpse:

.us Culvert paien, vos i avez mentit!

Again, what is said or not said is significant. He too calls out

"Munjoie": second consecutive laisse to begin last line with

.us Munjoie!

XCVI Gerin kills Malprimis de Brigal, whose soul is carried off by

Satan.

XCVII Gerer kills the amirafle, cause Oliver to cry out

.us Gente est nostre bataille!,

in the first of a series of 5

laisses whose last line ends with

an outcry.

XCVIII Samson kills alma$our, admired by Turpin:

.us Cist colp est de baron!

XCIX Anseis kills Turgis of Tortelose. Each of these laisses

ends with a cry of admiration by someone. This particular one

finishes with Roland admiring the blow:

.us Cist colp est de produme!

C Engelier le Gascon of Bordeaux kills Escremiz of Valterne,

finishing the laisse with an outcry himself:

.us Turnet estes a perdre!

CI Oton kills Estorgan, then cries out:

.us Ja n'i avrez guarant!

CII Berengier kills Astramariz, with no outcry. Instead,

the poet summarizes: 10 of the 12 Saracen peers are dead;

only Chernuble and Margariz are still alive.

CIII Margariz praised (he is the only one who survives a first

blow) attacks Oliver, but

.us Deus le guarit, qu'el cors ne l'ad tuchet.

Margariz sounds his

.us gresle

to summon the other Saracens.

CIV After 15 blows, Roland's spear breaks. He turns to Durendal

and attacks Chernuble, cutting through him to his saddle.

Roland then attacks the dead man as

.us Culvert...glutun

(1335).

CV A laisse devoted to describing and admiring the carnage

wrought by the French:

.us Li sanc tuz clers gesir par cele place

(1341). Turpin blessing the

.us barnage

and cries out

.us Munjoie!

CVI Oliver stikes Malon, whose eyes burst from his head, then

Turgis, Esturgoz, until the shaft of his spear breaks.

Roland now calls upon him to lay aside the spear, and pick up

his sword,

.us Halteclere.

Oliver's repsonse presumably is an example of battle humor:

.co off

.in 5 -5

-- Ne la poi traire," Oliver li respunt,

"Kar de ferir oi jo si grant bosoign!"

.co on

.in 0

CVII Oliver takes his sword and cuts Justin de Val Ferree

right through to the spine of his horse, and Roland voices

his approval.

CVIII Gerin rides Sorel, Gerers Passecerf, into battle, killing

Timozel. Rhetorical question: which of the two was faster?

Turpin kills Siglorel

.us l'encanteur

(1391), and Roland again voices his approval:

.us itels colps me sunt bel!

CIX Poet states that the battle now grew more heated, banners

falling,

.co off

.in 5 -5

Tant bon Franceis i perdent lor juvente

Ne reverrunt lor meres ne lor femmes,

Ne cels de France ki as porz les atendent.

.co on

.in 0

The poet proceeds to predict Charles' lamentation, commenting

.us de $o qui calt?

(1405), as well as Ganelon's punishment at Aix, together with

his relatives.

CX First line a variation of the first line of the previous laisse.

The pagans die by the hundreds and the thousands. A sudden storm,

rain falls

.us desmesureement,

the earth trembles, all over France, and darkness at noon:

.co off

.in 5 -5

De seint Michel del Peril josqu'as Senz,

D<s Besan$un tresqi'al port de Guitsand,

N'en ad recet dunt del mur ne cravent.

Cuntre midi tenebres is ad granz. (1428-31)

.co on

.in 0

Many people think that the end of the world has come,

but the poet says that they are mistaken:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Il ne sevent, ne dient veir nient:

$o est li granz dulors por la mort de Rollant. (1436-37)

.co on

.in 0

See

.us American Journal of Theology

X (1906) 648-662).

CXI Of the original 100,000 pagans, only 2000 are left.

Turpin lauds the troops, making an allusion to French history

that is not entirely clear:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Il est ecrit en la Geste Francor

Que vassals est li nostre empere~r. (1443-44)

.co on

.in 0

See l 1137 for next mention, and l. 2095 for author Gilie.

CXII Marsilion with an army arrives, 20 battle units, 7000

trumpets. Roland again tells Oliver that

.us Guenes le fel

has betrayed them, that the emperor will avenge them, that

they are about to take part in a battle that has never been

equalled. He promises to use Durendal, urges Oliver to

use Halteclere, and thereby (last line of the laisse)

.us Male chan$un n'en deit estre cantee

(1466).

CXIII Marsilion sees the damage done to his troops, has

the horns blown, and rides forward. In the vanguard is

Abisme,

.us Plus fel de lui n'out en sa cumpagnie

(1471); he does not believe in God, and is black:

.us Issi est neirs cume peiz ki est demise

(poix fondue), is treacherous, has never been seen to

smile, but is very brave. Turpin, suspected Abisme of

being a heretic, decides to kill him. Mezentius in

.us Aeneid

VII.647 possibly relevant.

CXIV Turpin rides forward on a horse he took at Grossaile

from a Danish king he killed. 7-line

.us effictio

of the horse (Auerbach on Odysseus' wound?), who, of course,

is non-pareil:

.us Beste nen est nule ki encontre lui alge

(1496). Turpin strikes Abismes' shield which was given by

.us uns diables

to >mir Galafe, who gave it to Abisme. It proves worthless, as

Turpin kills him with one blow, and the French cry out their

praise of Turpin's

.us vasselage

as well as his Christian fortitude:

.us En l'arcevesque est ben la croce salve

(1509).

CXV Turpin encourages the French, both for heroic reasons:

.us Que nuls prozdom malvaisement n'en chant

(1517), and for salvation:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Mais d'une chose vos soi jo ben guarant:

Seint pareis vos est abandunant

As Innocenz vos en serez seant. (1521-23)

.co on

.in 0

CXVI Climborin, who gave a kiss and his helmet to Ganelon,

appears, riding his horse, Barbamusche,

.us Plus est isnels qu'esprever ne arunde

(1535). He is the first pagan to strike a fatal blow, killing

Engelier of Gascony with his sword. Climbroin cries out

encouragement to his fellow pagans, and the French end the laisse

with

.us Deus, quel doel de prodome

(1544).

CXVII Roland now tells Oliver that Engeler was an incomparably

.us vaillant chevaler

and Oliver replies,

.us Deus ke ne doinst venger!

With bloody Halteclere he strikes the pagan;

.us aversers

carries his soul off. Oliver proceeds to kill Alphaien,

decapitates Escababi, and unhorse 7 Arabs. Roland registers

his satisfaction, promises that Charles will be pleased,

and ends the laisse with

.us Ferez i, chevaler!

(1561)

CXVIII Valdabrun, who had taken Jerusalem by trickery, violated

the temple of Solomon, killed the patriarch

.us devant les funz,

and had given Ganelon a sword and 1000

.us manguns,

seated on his horse

Gramimund,

.us Plus isnels que nen est uns falcuns,

rides forward and kills Sansun (1574).

The laisse ends with the same antithetical

routine that ended laisse

CXVI: the pagans exult and Christians lament.

CXIX Roland rides forward with Durendal and kills

the pagan (notice that the pagan loses his individual

identity in the process of being killed). The laisse

again ends with opposing speeches by pagans and Roland.

CXX Malquiant the African rides forward on Salt Perdut,

.us Beste nen est ki poisset curre a lui

(1598). He kills Anseis, and the laisse ends with the French lamenting:

.us Barun, tant mare fus

(1604)

CXXI Turpin takes vengeance, in a laisee that ends abruptly,

with the pagan liying dead

.us desur l'herbe verte.

CXXII Grandonies, son of Capuel, king of Cappadocia (pagan

in 1100, but probably part of Eastern Empire in 800) rides

forward and kills Gerin, who falls dead not on the green grass, but

.us en une halte roche.

This pagan goes on to kill Gerin's companion Gerers, as well as

Berenger, Guy of Saint-Antoine, and Austorge. The laisse ends

with the French lamenting:

.us Mult decheent li nostre!

CXIII Roland prepares for battle, his heart breaking. He uses

commercial language to express his intentions:

.us Tel as ocis que mult cher te quid vendre!

(1633).

CXXIV Grandoine a more significant figure, since he has killed

several Christians, and retains his name when Roland attacks

him. However, he is frightened when he sees Roland, and turns

to flee. Jenkins suggests comparing with

.us Iliad

xxii.36, Hector's reaction to Achilleus.

Roland's blow kills both the man and his horse.

Laisse ends with French admiring Roland's work:

.us Ben fiert nostre guarent!

(1652)

CXXV Begins with remarks on the fierceness of the battle, offers

.us Sur l'erbe verte le cler sancs s'en afilet,

then an apparent lacuna,

and returns with the pagans crying for help.

CXXVI Poet again remarks on the difficulty of the struggle;

the pgans flee and the French chase them.

CXXVII Begins with Roland expressing his admiration of Turpin to

Oliver, who then suggests that they go to his aid. Things go hard

for the Christians:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Dur sunt li colps e li caples est grefs;

Mult grant dulor i ad de chrestiens. (1678-80)

.co on

.in 0

The poet again refers to an historical document, apparently,

when he estimates the number of pagans killed by Turpin, Roland

and Oliver:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Il est escrit es cartres e es brefs,

Co dit la Geste, plus de .III. millers. (1684-85)

.co on

.in 0

In the first four attacks they did well, but in the fifth they

suffered. All but 60 of the French knights were killed. The laisse

ends with commercial language again:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Einz que il moergent se vendrunt mult cher. (1690)

.co on

.in 0

CXXVIII Roland registers his distress at the slaughter to Oliver,

asking how they will send the news to Charles. Oliver says that

he does not know, ending the laisse:

.us Mielz voeill murir que hunte nus seit retraite.

(1701)

CXXIX Roland now decides

.us Cornerai l'olifant.

Oliver says

.us Vergoigne sereit grant,

and continues in this vein, reminding Roland that h originally

suggested blowing the horn. He adds an admiring remark,

however, about how bloody Roland's arms are, and Roland ends the

laisse by admiring his own accomplishments:

.us Colps i ai fait mult genz

(1712).

CXXX For the second time Roland says that he will sound his horn,

and Oliver ironically resists again:

.us Ne sereit vasselage!

(1715). For the second time Oliver reminds him of who made the

suggestion originally, and now he ends the laisse with a

threat to withold his sister, mentioned for the first time,

from Roland:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Dist Oliver: "Par ceste meie barbe,

Se puis veeir ma gente sorur Alde,

Ne jerreiez ja mais entre sa brace!" (1719-21)

.co on

.in 0

CXXXI Roland asks

.us Por quei me portez ire?

and Oliver now blames him directly, suggesting that

.us vasselage

requires

.us mesure,

and that the French have died because of Roland's

.us legerie

(a word used twice before, once by Ganelon in his threat to

Roland, and once by Marsilion in his apology to Ganelon):

.co off

.in 5 -5

Kar vasselage par sens nen est folie;

Mielz valt mesure que ne fait estultie.

Franceis sunt morz par vostre legerie. (1724-26)

.co on

.in 0

He imagines what would have happened had Roland blown the

horn in time, blames Roland's prowess,

.us Vostre proecce, Rollant, mar la veimes!

and then expresses admiration of Roland's ability as he

imagines Roland's imminent death and his own, ending the laisse,

.us Einz le vespre mult ert gref la departie

(1736).

CXXXII Turpin now breaks in, tells them not to quarrel; although

blowing the horn will not save them, Roland should blow the

horn so that Charles will come back, take vengeance, and give

them a proper burial.,

.us N'en mangerunt ne lu ne porc ne chen

(1751).

Like the other characters, Turpin displays

the ability to imagine the future in a precisely detailed scene.

Roland ends the laisse in agreement,

.us Sire, mult dites bien.

CXXXIII In the course of

describing Roland blowing the horn, the poet incorporates the

first part of the first line of laisse LXVI:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Halt sunt li pui e la voiz est mult lunge,

Granz .XXX. liwes loirent il repundre.

.co on

.in 0

15 leagues in V4, 8 in Turpin's Chronicle.

Charles hears the sound, infers

.us Bataille funt nostre hume!,

but Ganelon tells him that he is mistaken,

.us S'altre le desist, ja semblast grant men$unge!

(1760).

CXXXIV Again Roland, with three adverbial phrases, blows his

horn, until the blood runs from his mouth and his temple bursts:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Li quens Rollant, par peine e par ahans,

Par grant dulor sunet sun olifan.

Par mi la buche en salt fors li cler sans.

De sun cervel le temple en est rumpant. (1761-64)

.co on

.in 0

Charles, Naimes, and the French hear the sound, as the poet

gets to show his thesaurus, with three words for hearing,

at this supreme moment in the poem:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Karles l'entent, ki est as porz passant.

Naimes li duc l'oid, si l'escultent li Franc.

.co on

.in 0

Charles correctly infers that a battle is taking place, and

Ganelon again contradicts him, calling him old and childish:

.co off

.in 5 -5

De bataille est nient!

Ja estes veilz e fluriz e blancs;

Par tels paroles vus resemblez enfant. (1770-1772)

.co on

.in 0

Ganelon attacks Roland's

.us grant orgoill,

accuses him of taking Noples without orders from Charles,

and suggests that Roland is merely chasing

.us un sul levre.

He urges Charles to continue towards

.us Tere Major

(1784).

CXXXV A third time Roland blows the horn, again with bloody

mouth and broken temple. Charles hears and exclaims

.us Cel corn ad lunge aleine!

(1789). Naimes now declares that a battle is going on, that

Ganelon has betrayed him, and urges

.us Adubez vos.

CXXXVI Charles orders his horns to be sounded, and the French

arm themselves. They promise each other that if Roland is still

alive they will fight by his side, but the poet finishes the

laisse with

.us De $o qui calt? car demuret i unt trop

(1804).

CXXXVII 5 lines to give the effect of

their equipment shining in the sun. Charles and the French are

angry, weeping, anxious for Roland. Ironic pathetic fallacy.

Charles consigns Ganelon to Besgon the cook, guarded by 1100 kitchen

workers,

.us des mielz e des peiurs.

They strip him of his beard and mustache, each giving him

3 blows of the fist, then they beat him with sticks and lead him

around with a chain,

.us cum un urs

(1827). Then they mount him on a nag, keeping an eye on him

until Charles returns.

CXXXVIII Begins with topological formula originally used to

begin laisse LXVI to foreshadow significant events:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Halt sunt li pui e tenebrus e grant,

Li val parfunt e les ewes curant. (1830-31)

.co on

.in 0

Charles and his troops again are described as angry and

grieving, praying for Roland, but,

.co off

.in 5 -5

De $o qui calt? car ne lur vait nient.

Demurent top, n'i poedent estre a tens. (1840-41)

.co on

.in 0

CXXXIX Angry Charles rides, his beard on his vest. All lament

Roland; the 60 who remain are matchless:

.us Unches meillurs n;en out reis ne cataignes.

(1850)

CXL Roland now looks at the mountains and at the dead Frenchmen,

.us E il les pluret cum chevaler gentill.

He composes 14-line speech, promising them paradise, praising them

as non-pareils. l. 1862 presents problems.

He urges Oliver to join him in the fray.

CXLI Roland now cuts to pieces Faldrun de Pui and 24 others.

.co off

.in 5 -5

Si cum li cerfs s'en vait devant les chiens,

Devant Rollant si s'en fuient paiens. (1874-75)

.co on

.in 0

Turpin praises Roland as paradigm:

.co off

.in 5 -5

En bataille deit estre forz e fiers,

U altrement ne valt .IIII. deners,

Ein deit monie estre en un de cez mustiers,

Si prierat tuz jurz por noz peccez. (1879-82)

.co on

.in 0

Roland urges the troops on, the French begin to fight, and the

poet again laments,

.us Mult grant damage i out de chrestiens.

(1885), although the laisse has been concerned with the damage

Christians are doing to pagans. Foerster amends the line.

CXLII Take no prisoners results in

.us grant defension.

The French fight like lions. Marsilion comes out to fight, on his

horse Gaignon. Marsilion kills Bevon of Dijon and Beaune, then he

kills Ivon and Ivoire, as well as Gerard de Roussillon. Roland

denounces the killer, cuts off his hand, and then kills

Marsilion's son

Jurfaleu le Blond. The pagans cry out to Mahomet for help, and

100,000 of them flee.

CXLIII However, the poet points out that if Marsilion has fled

(was he or was he not killed in the previous stanza?),

nevertheless Marganice remained. He held Carthage, Ethiopia,

.us une tere maldite.

The poet now describes his black troops:

.co off

.in 5 -5

La neire gent en ad en sa bailiie;

Granz unt les n>s e lees les oreilles. (1917-18)

.co on

.in 0

At the sight of 50,000 of them, Roland prepares for martyrdom,

and again speaks of selling his life dear:

.us Mais tut seit fel cher ne se vende primes

(1924).

He challenges his men not to dishonor

.us dulce France,

that when Charles comes he will find a ratio of 15 Saracens

dead for any French corpse, and therefore bless the dead French.

CXLIV For a second time the sight of the black troops,

.co off

.in 5 -5

la contredite gent

Ki plus sunt neirs que nen est arrement

Ne n'unt de blanc ne mais que sul les denz (1932-34),

.co on

.in 0

compels Roland to recognize that the end is near. He and Oliver

encourage the French to fight, and they do so.

CXL When they see how few French there are, the pagans feel

.us orgoil e cunfort,

and say to each other:

.us "L'empereor ad tort."

Marganices comes forward and runs Oliver through the back,

.us derere en mi le dos

((1945). He then boasts of his blow, and Oliver, feeling himself

close to death, gathers his strength, strikes Marganices with

.us Halteclere,

and kills him,

.us Trenchet la teste d'ici qu'as denz menuz.

Oliver then delivers his speech, and calls for Roland to help

him.

CXLVII The laisse opens with the same statement as the previous

laisse, with alteration for rhyme:

.us Oliver sent que a mort est ferut

(1952)

becomes

.us Oliver sent qu'il est a mort nasfret

(1965).

He continues to strike blows, shouting

.us Munjoie ... e haltement e cler.

He calls Roland to him,

CXLVIII Roland looks at bloody Oliver, laments his condition

and the results for France and Charles, and he passes out on

his horse.

CXVIX Oliver has trouble seeing. Stumbling upon Roland he

strikes him on the helmet, but does not get through to the

head. Roland says:

.co off

.in 5 -5

A icel colp l'ad Rollant reguardet,

Si li demandet dulcement e suef:

"Sire cumpain, faites le vos de gred?

Ja est $o Rollant, ki tant vos soelt amer!

Par nule guise ne m'aviez desfiet!" (1997-2002)

.co on

.in 0

Oliver apologizes and Roland forgives him.

CL Oliver for the third time senses imminent death; his eyes

turn in his head, he becomes deaf and blind, gets off his horse,

lies down on the ground,

.us Durement en halt si recleimet sa culpe

(2014), prays to heaven that God may grant him paradise and

bless Charles and

.us France dulce,

and Roland above all men. He dies, Roland cries, the grief is

non-pareil.

CLI Roland bids adieu to Oliver, finishing with

.us Quant tu es mor, dulur est que jo vif

(2030). A second time Roland passes out on

.us Veillantif,

but he does not fall from the saddle.

CLII Before Roland recovers from his swoon, all the French die

except for Turpin and Gautier de l'Hum, who comes down from the

mountain, and calls to Roland, identifying himself by his

conquest of Maelgut, and by his kinship,

.us Li ni>s Droun, al vieill e al canut

(2048). He too thinks of exchange and his life:

.us Sempres murrai, mais cher me sui vendut

(2053).

CLIII Sad and angry, Roland kills 20 pagans; Walter kills

6 and Turpin 5. The pagans rally to the attack.

CLIV The poet composes a line in praise of each of the remaining

Frenchmen as they battle 1000 pagans on foot and 40,000 on

horse, who nonetheless dare not approach the three, but hurl

their weapons from afar:

.co off

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Il lor lancent e lances e espiez

E wigres a darz e museras a agiez e gieser. (1074-75)

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Gautier is killed first, then four spears pierce

Turpin and his horse.

CLV Nevertheless, the archbishop gets up

.us Isnelement,

looks at Roland, declares that he is not defeated but is still

.us bon vassal

(2089). Picking up his sword

.us Almace,

(named for the first time here?), he plunges into

.us la grant presse

and delivers 1000 blows. Poet now imagines Charles' response

when he finds 400 dead pagans around Turpin:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Alquanz nafrez, alquanz par mi ferut,

S'i out d'icels ki les chefs unt perdut. (2093-94)

.co on

.in 0

Again the poet claims historical authority:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Co dit la Geste e cil ke el camp fut:

Li ber Gilie, pro que Deus fait vertuz,

E fist la chartre el muster de Lo~m. (2095-97)

.co on

.in 0

The technique is called

.us adtestatio rei visae,

Curtius p. 444.

In addition, Biblical precedent offers Abishar slaying 300 with

his spear (2 Sam xxiii.18) and Saul and David, who slay 1000s.

CLVI Sweaty and hot, sad and in pain, Roland continues fighting,

.us Rumput est li temples, por $o que il cornat

(2102).

Again he blows the horn, however,

.us fieblement.

Charles hears and draws the correct inference,

.us Jo oi al corner que guaires ne vivrat

(2008). 60,000 French horns reply,

.us Sunent li munt e respondent li val,

and the pagans offer no

.us gab.

CXLVII The pagan's predicament: if Charles arrives, they'll

be destroyed; if Roland lives, war will be renewed. 400

pagans now attack Roland.

CLVIII Roland rides to battle on

.us Veillantif,

with Turpin at his side. The laisse ends with the pagans worrying

about Charles' return.

CLIX Roland now gets down from his horse, because Turpin has lost

his. He profers a

.us gab

about Durendal, and Turpin urges him on, predicting that Charles

will take vengeance. Jenkins prefers the reading of V4, which

offers a more generous Roland, distributing praise both to his

own and to Turpin's sword:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Encui savront paien a cet asalt

Lo nom d'Almace e cel de Durendal.

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CLX The pagans curse the day they were born, hurl their lances

at Roland, and leave the field. They smash his equipment,

.us Mais enz el cors ne l'unt mie adeset

(2159). His horse, however, wounded 30 times, dies. The pagans

flee and Roland is left standing:

.us Le quens Rollant i est rem>s a pied

(2163).

CLXI Enraged, the paynim flee towards Spain; Roland cannot

chase them, having lost

.us Veillantif.

He now becomes gentle,

unlacing Turpin's golden helmet, loosening his other

equipment; he dresses his wounds,

.us En ses granz plaies les pans li ad butet

(2173), takes him in his arms,

.co off

.in 5 -5

Cuntre sun puiz puis si l'ad enbracet;

Sur l'erbe verte puis l'at suef culchet.

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and speaks to him

.us Mult dulcement

(2176), asking permission to leave Turpin to search for

the dead, top bring them back,

.us Dedevant vos juster e enrenger

(2184). Turpin tells him to go and do so,

.us Cist camp est vostre, mercit Deu, e mien.

CLXII Roland roams the field

.us tut suls,

searching the hills and the vales. He finds Gerin and Gerer,

Berenger and Attun, Anse`s and Sansun, old Gerard de

Russilun. One by one he takes and and brings them back to Turpin,

.us Sis mist en reng dedevant ses genuilz

(2192). Turpin weeps, commends them to God, who will

place them among the holy flowers, and complains that he

is dying and will never see the emperor again.

CLXIII Roland goes back to the field, finds Oliver,

.us Encuntre sun piz estreit l'ad enbracet,

places him on a shield before the archbishop, who absolves

them all, makes the sign of the cross. Roland now addresses

Oliver's body, identifying him as the son of duc Reiner who

held the

.us val de Runers

(2209). Then he praises Oliver's military abilities.

CLXIII Roland weeps, his face changes color, he falls to

the earth in another swoon,

.us Voeillet o nun

(2220), and the archbishop produces the last line of the laisse:

.us Dist l'arcevesque: "Tant mare fustes, ber!"

(2221)

CLXV With great grief at the sight of Roland unconscious,

Turpin takes the horn, feebly tries to

make his way to a stream, and dies from the effort.

CLXVI Roland awakes and gets to his feet with great pain.

Looking around, he sees his companions, then the archbishop,

.us que Deus mist en sun num

(2238), his eyes directed towards heaven, hands joined in

prayer. The poet praises his fighting and his talk, and

asks God's benediction for Turpin. See Longellow's

poem, "The Death of Archbishop Turpin."

CLXVII Roland looks at Turpin's body, sees his guts spilled

out of his body, his hands crossed on his chest, and utters

a lament for him, commending him to God, comparing him

favorably to the apostles.

.co off

.in 5 -5

D<s les apostles ne fut hom tel prophete

Pur lei tenir e pur humes atraire (2255-56)

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CLXVIII Roland senses that death is near, prays for his peers

and then for himself; he prays to Gabriel, takes his horn in

one hand and Durendal in the other. The distance an arrow might

fly he moves stowards Spain, mounts a hill. Under a tree

he finds 4 blocks of stone made of marble.

.us Sur l'erbe verte si est caeit envers,

and he again passes out.

CLXIX A variation on the formula used three times before:

.us Halt sunt li pui e mult halt les arbres

(2271). A Saracen who had pretended to be dead

by smearing himself with blood sees him and rushes over

to snatch Durendal:

.co off

.in 5 -5

"Vencut li ni<s Carles!

Iceste espee porterai en Arabe." (2280-81)

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Roland comes to.

CLXX Feeling someone taking his sword, Roland opens

his eyes, speaks a line, grabs the horn and kills the pagan

with a blow over his helmet that knocks his eyes from

their sockets. He then composes almost five lines

rebuking the

.us culvert paien,

and complaining that his horn has been ruined:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Fenduz en est mis olifans el gros,

Caiuz en est li cristals e li ors. (2295-96)

.co on

.in 0

Possibly an episode made up to explain the break in the middle of

the horn displayed at Bordeaux. Pseudo-Turpin claims that the

violence of Roland's blast broke the horn.

CLXXI Roland goes blind, stands up weakly, loses

the color in his face. He strikes a rock 10 times with his

sword, which does not break. He calls upon Mary for help,

addresses a panegyric to Durendal.

CLXXII Again he strikes a rock, this one of

.us sardonie,

but his trusty blade remains whole. Again he composes an

apostrophe to Durendal, recalling that Charles was in the

vale of Moriane when God sent an angel to order Charles to give

it to one of his leaders. Roland now lists the countries he

conquered with it: Anjou, Britanny, Poitou, Maine, Normandy,

Provence, Aquitaine, Lombardy, Rome, Bavaria, Flanders,

Burgundy, Apulia, Constantinople, Saxony, Scotland, Wales (?),

England.

.us Mielz voeill murir qu'entre pa`ens remaigne

(2336).

CLXXIII Again he strikes it against a rock, this time

.us une perre bise/ Plus en abat que jo ne vos sai dire

(inexpressability topos), and again to no avail. Again he

apostrophizes Durendal,

.us cum es bele e seintisme!

(2344), describing the reliques in its hilt: a tooth of

St. Peter, some of saint Basil's blood (there were 28 St.

Basils), some hair of

Saint Denis, some clothing of Mary. Pagans should not own it.

CLXXIV Again Roland feels approaching death moving from his head

to his heart now. Under a pine tree he lies down

.us Sur l'erbe verte,

placing his sword and horn underneath him, turning his head

.us vers la paiene gent

(2360), to show to Charles that he died a conqueror, as the

poet makes clear in Charles' speech in laisse CCIV, ll. 2864ff.

He holds

his glove out to God for his sins.

CLXXV Roland addresses God, confessing, again holding out his

glove towards God, and the laisse ends with God's response:

.us Angles del ciel i descendent a lui

(2374). A third time we are told that he has turned his head

.us Envers Espaigne.

He remembers the lands he conquered, his country, his family,

Charles, and he weeps and sighs. He then thinks of himself,

.us Mais lui meisme ne volt mettre en ubli,

and he prays to God,

.us Veire Paterne,

remembering Lazarus, Daniel among the lions, asking for forgiveness

.us Pur les pecchez que en ma vie fis!

(2388). See Chalres speech using biblical exempla, laisse 226.

Again he holds out his glove, and Gabriel takes it from

him.

.us Juntes ses mains est alet a sa fin

(2392). The angel Cherubin and saint Michel del Peril, together

with Gabriel, carry his soul to heaven. See Mathew Arnold's

introduction to Ward's

.us English Poets

on this laisse, and Lowell's reply, PMLA V (1890), pp. 14-15.

CLXXVII The emperor delivers an

.us ubi sunt

routine, which question will not be answered until laisse 205,

when he comes upon the bodies themselves.

He asks first for Roland, as

.us bels ni>s,

the the archbishop, Oliver, Gerin and Gere Otes, Berengar,

Ive, Ivorie, Gascon Engelier, Samson, Anseis, Gerard de

Roussilon, then, in summation,

.us Li .XII. per, que ho aveie laiset?

(2410). He twists his beard, his knights weep, and 20,000

men faint; the laisse ends

.us Naimes li dux en ad mult grant pitet.

CLXXVIII Everyone cries, sons, brothers, nephews, friends,

liege lords, and many faint. Naimes is the first to speak,

recommending that Charles look about leagues ahead of him

and he will be able to see the dust created by the paynim on the

road. He calls for vengeance. Charles assigns Gebuin, Oton,

Teobald of Rheims and count Milo to guard the field and the dead

from beasts of prey. No one is to touch them until they return

from pursuing pagans. He leaves 1000 knights for the task.

CLXXIX Trumpets sound, Charles kneels to deliver Joshua's

prayer to God,

.us Que li soleilz facet pur lui arester

(2450), and an angel responds promising him all that he has asked for.

CLXXX

The sun stands still,

.us le soleilz est rem>s en estant,

and the Christians pursue the fleeing pagans, catching them

.us El Val Tenebrus,

pursuing them in the direction of Saragossa. Jenkins points out

that, according to Hugo of Verdun, immediately after the battle

of Ascalon (Aug 12, 1090), the northern lights played all night,

'lest light should be lacking to the Christians for the defeat of

their enemies.' When they try

to cross the Sebre (Ebre), with prayers to their God Tervagant,

some drown, some float downstream, and some have too much too

drink, but they all drown,

.us par merveillus ahan,

and the French crie

.us Mar ve`stes Rollant!

(2475).

CLXXXI Charles,

.us li gentilz reis,

gets down from his horse, lies down on the ground and thanks God.

When he gets up, the sun has gone down. He decides to camp here,

declaring it too late to return to Roncevaux. His concern for the

horses expressed in 3 lines:

.co off

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Noz chevals sunt e las e ennuiez.

Tolez lur les seles, le freins qu'il unt es chefs,

E par cez prez les laisez refreider. (2485-87)

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The French reply

.us Sire, vos dites bien.

(2587).

CLXXXII The French take care of their horses, forage, sleep

some even on the ground, and set no watch,

.us escalguaite.

CLXXXIII The emperor lies down in a field, his spear near his

head, unwilling to disarm. His sword

.us Joiuse

which changes color every day, remains in his scabbard. In its

golden pommel the point of the lance that wounded Christ is

engraved

.us l'ad faite manuvrer,

from which its name is derived. It is also responsible for the

battle-cry

.us Munjoie!

Historians of the First Crusade reported the discovery of the

.us lancea salvatoris

in 1099.

CLXXXIV

.us Clere est la noit e la lune luisant

(2512). Charles grieves for Roland, Oliver, 12 peers, but

finally falls asleep. Laisse ends with images of weariness:

.co off

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N'i ad cheval ki puisset ester en estant:

Ki herbe voelt, il la prent en gisant.

Mult ad apris ki bien conuis ahan.

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CLXXXV God sends the angel Gabriel to Charles to remain all

night at his head, providing him with a dream of the next day's

battle. Thunder, lightning, storm, winds, fire and flames

fall upon his army, destroying their weapons; bears, leopards,

serpents, more than 1000 griffons try to eat the soldiers, who

call to Charles for help. He is prevented from going to their

aid by a lion who comes out of a forest and attacks him.

They fight and Charles awakes, unable to say who won.

CLXXXVI

.us un altre avisiun

(2555): Charles is at Aix, seated on a block of stone,

hold a bear tied up with two chains. He sees 30 bears approaching

from the Ardenne, each speaking

.us cume hum.

They ask for the bear, who is

.us nostre parent.

Out of the palace races a greyhound who attacks the biggest bear,

.us Sur l'erbe verte

(2565). Again Charles cannot tell who wins when he wakes up.

CLXXXVII Back to Marsilion, who has fled to Saragossa.

In the shade of an olive tree he dismounts, hands his weapons

to his men, and lies down

.us Sur la verte herbe.

He has lost his right hand, and he faints from loss of blood.

His wife Bramimunde weeps and shrieks. 20,000 men curse Charles

and

.us France dulce

(2579). They rush to Apollo in a crypt and vilify him:

.us E! Malvais deus, por quei nus fais tel hunte?

They take his sceptre and crown from him, hurl him to the ground,

break him to pieces. See Parzival's reaction as a variation

on this motif. They take the

.us escarbuncle

from Tervagan and throw Mahomet in a ditch,

.us E porc e chen le mordent e defulent.

(see Guibert de Nogent's story resembling this).

Consider also Patrick Geary, "Humiliation of Saints," in

Stephen Wilson (ed.),

.us Saints and their Cults,

Cambridge, 1983, pp. 123-140, for Christians behaving this way.

CLXXXVIII Marsilion now recovers and is carried into his painted

chamber. Bramimunde weeps and tears her hair, apostrophizing

Saragossa, castigating the gods:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Li nostre deu i unt fait felonie,

Ki en bataille oi matin le faillirent. (2600-2601)

.co on

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She expects the emir to help out, expresses admiration of

Charles, and finishes her laisse with the wish that someone

would kill him.

Some argument here for Baligant I (2608-2844) and

Baligant II (2974-3681) as interpolations, because these

sections are lacking in the ON version.

CLXXXIX Again, Charles was in Spain 7 years, capturing castels

and cities. Marsilion resisted him, sending letters to Baligant

of Babylon,

.co off

.in 5 -5

$o est l'amiraill, le viel d'antiquitet,

Tut survesquiet e Virgilie e Omer. (2615-16)

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The self-conscisously literary reference to Homer and Virgil

is only in O.

Marsilion threatened, if the emir did not come, to abandon

his gods and idols, and to accept Christianity. The emir took

his time about coming. He called his people from 40 kingdoms,

and they came in different kinds of boats. In May on the first

day of summer he set out on the sea with

.us tutes ses oz

(2629).

XCX Description of the sea journey (check Geoffrey of Vinsauf),

with much shining. Marsilion hears of their imminent arrival.

XCXI The emir's force sails up the Ebre, shining brilliantly,

and arrives at Sarragossa.

XCXII The day is bright and the sun shines as the emir debarks,

Espaneliz (only mention) at his right side, 17 kings behind him,

plus countless counts and dukes. Under a laurel, on a silk carpet

.us Sur l'erbe verte

a throne is set up, on which Baligant sits, announcing that

Charles doesn't have the right to eat if Baligant doesn't tell

him to. He continues with his threats, and the laisse ends with

a gesture:

.us Sur sun genoill en fiert sun destre guant.

CXCIII His men praise his speech. He calls two of them forward,

Clarifan and Clar`en, the sons of Maltra`en, to carry message to

Marsilion at Saragossa, to come to his aid against the French.

He offers his golden gold as pledge, as well as a

.us bastuncel d'or mer.

Baligant continues his

.us gab,

and his men end the laisse with

.us Sire, mult dites bien

(2685).

CXCIV The messengers enter the city, pass the ten gates,

four bridges, and move through the streets

.us u li burgeis estunt

(2691), and hear

.us grant fremur.

The Saracens are complaining about their gods, Tervagan,

Mahomet, and Apollo, and about their great losses.

CXCV The messengers leave their horses under an olive tree,

go up to the palace, and salute the king and queen by invoking

Mahomet, Tervagan and Apollo. Queen Bramimunde replies

.us or oi mult grant folie

(2714). The gods have failed, all is lost, and she finishes the

laisse desperately with

.us E! lasse, que nen ai un hume ki m'ociet

(2723).

CXCVI The messengers rebuke her,

.us Dame, ne parlez mie itant

(2724), identify themselves as messengers of

.us paien Baligant

(Christian point of view), show the glove and baton, describe

what they have available: 4000 boats at least. Their offer

to fight Charles is met with irony from Bramimund, whose remarks

show at least grudging admiration for Charles.

CXCVII Marsilion, however, interrupts, telling the messengers

that they should properly speak only to him, who is about

to die and has lost his children. He gives up his claim into

the emir's hands. He also predicts that within a month the

emir will receive the keys to the city from Charles (could

the sentence be read the other way around?). The messengers

end the laisse with

.us Sire, vos dites veir

(2754).

CXCVIII Marsilion describes the damage Charles has done to his

men, cities, says that Charles sleeps on the banks of the

Ebre, 7 leagues distant, gives them the keys to the city,

and they leave.

CXCIX When they return Baligant asks where is Marsilion and they

say that

.us Il est a mort naffret

(2771). They go on to describe the battle at Roncevaux

between Roland and Marsilion, the killing of Marsilion's son,

and the resigning of his claim by Marsilion to Baligant.

Baligant, like Charles before him, does not reply immediately,

but begins to think.

CC Clar`en speaks, pointing out that Roland died at

.us Rencevals,

along with Oliver, the 12 peers, and 20,000 others. They can

make retreat difficult for Charles,

.us Se vos volez, li repaires ert grefs

(2801). Baligant approves, rises from the throne with an exchange

program in mind, with which he finishes the laisse:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Li reis Marsilie enqui serat venget:

Pur sun poign destre l'en liverai le chef. (2808-09)

.co on

.in 0

CCI The pagans mount their horses and ride forth; the emir putss

Gemalfin,

.us un sun drut

(2813), in charge of his army and rushes off with 4 dukes to

Saragossa. He dismounts

.us A un perron de marbre,

where 4 counts hold his stirrup. On the way up to the palace he

is met by Bradimund, who is still having problems with self-esteem,

curses her life, and falls at the emir's feet. He picks her up and

they proceed inside.

CCII Marsilion directs two Saracens to pick him up when Baligant

appears, takes from his left hand a glove, with which he

symbolically grants Baligant his lands, in a fragment of a

line (2832). With only 4 lines of direct discourse,

Baligant proclaims himself in a rush, accepts the

glove, and sets off to battle.

CCIII Back to Charles, who wakes up. Gabriel raises his hand and

makes a sign over him. The king disarms, as does his army, rides off

on long, broad paths at great speed to see (end of laisse):

.co off

.in 5 -5

le merveillus damage

En Rencesvals, la o fut la bataille. (2853-54)

.co on

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CCIV At Rencesvals Charles begins to cry. He addresses the

French, telling them that he must go ahead of them to find

Roland, recalling his nephew's prediction that if he died

.us en estrange regnet

(2864), he would move ahead of his men, and turn his head

towards the enemy's territory (thus explaining earlier gesture),

.us Cunquerrantment si finereit li bers

(2867). Charles climbs a hill before the others.

CCV The laisse begins with flowers dipped in blood:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Quant l'emperes vait querre sun nevold,

De tantes herbes el pr> truvat les flors

Ki sunt vermeilles del sance de noz barons! (2870-72)

.co on

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Again he cries. Under two trees he sees 3 stones struck by

Roland, and then

.us Sur l'erbe verte veit gesir sun nevuld

(2876).

Angry, he gets off his horse and runs to the body, picks it

up in a partial line and passes out with grief.

CCVI Charles comes to, is held up by 4 of his barons, and looks

at the body of his nephew, which is both appealing and saddening:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Cors ad gaillard, perdue ad sa culur,

Turnez ses oilz, mult li sunt tenebros (2895-96).

.co on

.in 0

Charles cries again, adresses Roland,

.us Ami Rollant,

expressing the desire

that his nephew be

.us en flors,/ En pare`s, entre les glorius!

He regrets also his own loss of support, tears his hair,

and 100,000 Frenchmen weep.

CCVIII Laisse begins with

.us Ami Rollant,

as Charles imagines going home to Laon, to be asked by

.us li hume estrange..."U est li quens cataignes?"

(2912), and he must tell them

.us il est morz en Espaigne.

In fact no foreigner, but

Alda will ask the very question in laisse CCLXVIII (l. 3709)

CCIX The laisse again opens with

.us Ami Rollant,

and Charles imagining men asking for news, and himself answering:

.us Morz est mis ni>s, ki tant me fist cunquere"

(2920). The Saxons will rebel, Hungarians, Bulgarians,

Romans, Apulians, Palernians, Africa and Califerne.

CCX Again the laisse begins with

.us Ami Rollant,

followed by a repetition of the request that God assign him

to heavenCharles expresses the wish to die. He asks that

before he reaches the gates of Cize, God separate his soul

from his body, that he may lie in Spain with his men.

He weeps, tugs at his beard, and Naimes ends the laisse with:

.us Or ad Carles grant ire

(2944).

CCXI Geoffroy of Anjou now tells the emperor to restain his

.us dolor,

and to find the bodies and bury them

.us en un carner

(2949). Charles replies,

.us Sunez en vostre corn!

CCXII Geoffrey does so, the French get down from their horses,

collect the bodies and bury them,

.us Ad un carner.

The bishops, abbots, monks, canons, tonsured priests absolve

and bless the bodies, light incense, and bury them

.us a grant honor

(2960). The laisse ends with pathetic rhetorical question:

.us Sis unt laisez, qu'en fereient il el?

(2961).

CCXIII The emperor supervises the preparations for the burial of

Roland, Oliver, Turpin. Their hearts are removed, wrapped in

silk, placed in urns of white marble. The bodies themselves are

washed and aromatized, then wrapped in deerskin. Charles assigns

Tedbalt, Gebuin, count Milo and Oton the marquis to put them

in three wagons and lead them. The last line of the laisse:

.us Bien sunt cuverz d'un palie galazin

(2973).

CCXIV As Charles sets out, the Saracens avantguard appears,

with messengers who address him as

.us Reis orguillos,

and who challenge his

.us vasselage

(2981). Charles strokes his beard, remembers the

.us del doel e del damage,

looks at his men, and:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Puis se s'escriet a sa voiz grand e halte:

"Barons franceis, as chevals e as armes!" (2985-86)

.co on

.in 0

CCXV Charles is first to arm. His horse is here named for the

first time:

.us Tencendur

(2993), which he won at Marsonne when he unhorsesd Malpalin de

Nerbonne. He gallops off, with the last line of the laisse:

.us Recleimet Deu e l'apostle de Rome

(2998).

CCXVI More than 100,000 Frenchmen dismount, put on their

equipment, saddle up. Charles calls three men to him, Jozeran

of Provence, Naimon, and Antelme of Mainz, stirring them

on to battle, again using the language of exchange:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Si Arrabiz de venir ne se repentent,

La mort Rollant lur quid cherement rendre. (3011-12)

.co on

.in 0

CCXVII Charles assigns the positions that belonged to Roland

and Oliver to Rabel and Guineman; one carries the sword,

the other the

.us olifant.

They form the vanguard, with 15,000 men.

CCXVIII The first two bodies of soldiers are French; behind

them come 20,000 Bavarians, who are second in value only to the

French. They are led by Ogier the Dane.

CCXIX The fourth body of troops is set up by

Naimon, composed of 20,000 Germans (i.e., from elsewhere than

Bavaria), led by Herman the duke of Thrace.

CCXX The fifth body is established by Naimon and Joseran,

entirely of French, led by Richard the Old.

CCXXI the sixth group is composed of 30,000 Bretons, led by

Eudo, who calls count Nevelun, Teobald of Rheims, and the marquis

Otun and appoints them leaders.

CCXXII Naimon sets up the seventh group, 40,000 men from Poitou

and Auvergne. Charles blesses them with his right hand, and

the group, led by Jozerans and Godselm, assembles.

CCXXIII the eighth group Naimon sets up is composes of more than

40,000 men from Flanders and Frisia, led by Rembalt and Hamon

of Galice.

CCXXIV the ninth group is composed of 50,000

.us chevalers

from Lorraine and Burgundy, led by Thierry, the duke of Argone.

CCXXV The tenth group consists of 100,000 Frenchmen, who cry

.us Munjoie, led by Geoffrey of Anjou carrying oriflamme that

was St. Peter's, originally called "Romaine" but now "Munjoie."

CCXXVI The emperor dismounts, lies down on

.us l'erbe verte,

turns his face towards the rising sun, and prays to God to protect

him as He protected Jonah, spared the king of Ninevah, Daniel in

the lions' den, the three children in the fiery furnace. He asks for

.us La tue amurs

(3107) as well as

.us ta mercit

(3108) to aid in

.us venger Rollant.

He then get up, makes a sign with his head, remounts his horse,

as Naimon and Joceran hold the stirrup, and rides off. A brief

.us effictio:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Gent ad le cors, gaillart e ben seant,

Cler le visage e de bon cuntenant. (3115-16)

.co on

.in 0

The laisse ends with the French weeping

.us pur pitet

for Roland.

CCXXVII Charles rides to battle, his beard over his byrnie,

and the 100,000 others,

.us pur sue amor,

follow him. Geography again offers pathetic fallacy:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Passent cez puis e cez roches plus haltes,

Cez vals parfunz, cez destreiz anguisables,

Issent des porz e de la tere guaste. (3125-27)

.co on

.in 0

A Syrian reports to Baligant that the French are coming, led by

.us li orguillus reis Carles.

The laisse ends with

Baligant ordering the horns to be blown.

CCXXVIII The instruments sound, the pagans arm themselves,

led by the emir, who has named his sword,

.us par sun orgoill,

in imitation of Charles,

.us Preciose,

according to a reading of V4 (the Oxford MS seems to have a missing

line. His huge and heavy spear is named

.us Maltet.

For Biblical parallel, see I Chronicles xx.5; for classical

parallel Aeneid xii.887.

He mounts his horse, assisted by Marcules d'ultre mer

(3156).

.us Effictio

again of Baligant, with the extreme of admiration -- had he been

Christian he would have been

.us quel baron:

.co off

.in 5 -5

La forche~re ad asez grant li ber,

Graisles les flancs e large les costez;

Gros ad le piz, belement est mollet,

Lees les espalles e le vis ad mult cler,

Fier le visage, le chef recercelet,

Tant par ert blancs cume flur en estet;

De vasselage est suvent esprovet;

Deu! quel baron, s'o~st chretientet! (3157-64)

.co on

.in 0

He sets off, jumps a ditch 50 feet wide, and the laisse ends

with his men admiring him, and scorning Charles:

.us Carles est fols que ne s'en est alet

(3171).

CXXIX More admiration of the emir, for his white beard,

.us saives hom...fiers e orgoillus,

Praise now of his son Malpramis,

for his height, and for his lineage. He delivers a

.us gab

to his father, denigrating Charles; his father praises Charles as

.us proz,

and says that his accomplishments may be found

.us En plusurs gestes

(3181). Without Roland, however, he will not have enough

.us vertut...cuntre nus

(3183).

CCXXX Baligant addresses his son as

.us Bels filz Malpramis

(3184), telling him that Roland, Oliver, the 12 peers, and 20,000

French were killed the other day, 10 battailons are approaching

wih 15,000 French,

.us De bachelers que Carles cleimet enfanz

(3197). His son shows his nobility:

.us Dist Malpramis: "Le colp vos en demant"

(3200).

CCXXXI Baligant gratns the request. He assigns Torleu, the

Persian king, and Dapamort, and Dapamort,

.us un altre rei leutiz,

i.e., of the Wilzes (Mecklenburg area). He also promises as a

reward a considerable fief (in a prefeudal gesture),

which the poet predicts he will never enjoy:

.co off

.in 5 -5

unches puis ne la vit,

Ne il n'en fut ne vestut ne saisit. (3212-13)

.co on

.in 0

CCXXXII Kings Torleus and Dapamort form 30 battalions, the least

of which contains 50,000 men. The first is from Butentrot, the

second from Micenes (they have large heads and bristles on their

backs), the third is from Nobles and from Blos, the fourth from

Bruns e d'Esclavoz, the fifth from Sorbres and Sorz, the sixth

from Ermines and Mors, the seventh from Jericho, the eighth from

Nigres, the ninth from Gros, and the tenth from Balide la Forte.

The emir swears by the miracles and body of Mahomet, again

calls Charles

.us fols

(3234) as part of a three line

.us gab

that end the laisse.

CCXXXIII An additional ten bataillons are formed; the first is

made up of ugly Canaanites from Val Fuit, the second from Turkey and

the third from Persia. The fourth is from Pinceneis (the

Petcheneges, a "wild Scythian tribe" --J.), the fifth from Soltras

and Avers (Avars or Tartars), the sixth from Ormaleus and Eugiez,

the seventh from the people of Samuel (Bulgarians under Czar Samuel

invaded the Roman Empire 26 times, 988-1014 --i.e., 200

years after Charlemagne's time), the eighth from

Bruise, the ninth from Clavers, and the tenth from

.us Occian le desert

(3246). All are hideous, with unnaturally tough skin,

.us cume fer,

and they used no helmets or hauberks.

CCXXIV The emir brings up 10 more battailons The first is

composed of giants from Malprose, the second of Huns and the

third of Hungarians, the fourth of me from Baldise la lunge, the

fifth of men from Val Penuse, the sixth from Maruse, the seventh

from Leus e d'Astrimonies (Strimonis?), the eighth from Argoilles,

the ninth from Clarbone, and the tenth from Fronde (Val-Fonde in

J.) with the long beards (Langobards). That there were 30 battle units,

.us escheles,

the

.us Geste Francor

testifies (3262). The laisse ends with a line that suggests

but does not confirm a consciousness of difference between

appearance and reality:

.us Paien chevalchent en guise de produme

(3264).

CCXXXV The emir brings out his dragon-standard, as well as

standards of Tervagan, Mahomet, and

.us Apolin le felun.

The pagans pray, lower their heads, and the French

deliver a

.us gab

against the

.us glutun!

(3275). The last line of the laisse is pious and incomplete.

CCXXXVI Again the poet compliments the emir as a man

.us de grant saveir

(3279); Baligant calls his son and the two kings to him, assigning

them to the vanguard, keeping back the three best

.us escheles:

the Turks, the Ormaleis, and the giants of Malpreis.

With himself he takes those of Ociant, to fight Charles and

the French. Another

.us gab,

this one to decapitate Charles, ends the laisse.

CCXXXVII No hills, valleys, forests between the contending

armies. Baligant adresses his men as

.us La meie gent averse

(3295), in effect people "gone astray," an odd confusion of

points of view. Amborres d'Oluferne carries the standard, and

the pagans cry out

.us Preciuse. The French shout back that their opponents

will suffer a great loss,

.us Munjoie!

The emperor has the horns sounded and the laisse ends with the

pagans realizing

.co off

.in 5 -5

La gent Carlun est bele.

Bataille avrum e aduree e pesme. (3303-04)

.co on

.in 0

CCXXXVIII The size of the plain, the shining of the equipment

again, the sounds of the horns. The emir calls his brother

Canabeus, king of Flordee to show him Charles' troops.

He then speaks of Charles, standing with a group of old men,

whose beards are whiter than snow on ice (3319) Riding

ahead of him men, he urges them on.

CCXXXIX Charles watches, understands the size of his enemy,

and adresses his men. He praises them, calls the pagans

.us felun...e cuart

(3337), says that their religion is not worth a penny,

that their numbers are meaningless, and he pricks Tencendor

forward so that he makes 4 leaps. The laisse finishes with

the French admiring Charles in chorus, particularly as

.us vassals

(3343).

CCXL Poet again speaks of the clarity and brilliance of the day,

of the beauty and size of the armies. Couts Rabel and

Guinemans rush forward and the French follow.

CCXLI Rabel strikes Torleu the Persian king, who falls dead,

while the French rejoice,

.us Carles ad dreit, ne li devom faillir

(3359).

CCXLII Guinemans does the same to

.us un rei leutice,

presumably Dapamort, and the French again shout

.us Carles ad dreit vers la gent...

with the rest of the line missing; Jenkins supplies

.us paenisme.

CCXLIII Malpramis attacks the French; Baligant boasts of

his son's accomplishments, and calls upon his men to support

Malpramis. The battle rages.

CCXLIV The poet makes enthusiastic remarks about the quality

of the fighting, which lasts

.us Josqu'a la nuit.

CCXLV The emir adresses his men, promising them fine women,

fiefs, land, and they reply enthusiastically, drawing more than

100,000 swords.

CCXLVI The emperor urges on the French, also offering rewards:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Ben le connuis que gueredun vos en dei

E de mun cors, de teres et d'aveir. (3409-10)

.co on

.in 0

He calls upon them to take vengeance for what happened at

Rencesvals, and reiterates the sense of justice:

.us Ja savez vos cuntre paiens ai dreit

(3413). The French give their customary reply:

.us Sire, vos dites veir

((3414), and 20,000 Frenchmen surround him. The laisse ends

with an appreciation of the battle:

.us La bataille est de merveillus destreit

(3420).

CCXLVII Malpramis rides through the field, killing Frenchmen.

Naimon kills him with a single blow, and Malpramis dies

.us entre .VII. C. des altres

(3428).

CCXLVIII King Canabeus, the emir's brother, rides forth and

strikes Naimon on the head:

.us Granz ful li colps, li dux en estonat

(3438). God, however, aids Naimon, who manages not to fall off

his horse, holding onto its neck. Before Canabeus can strike again,

Charles arrives.

CCXLIX Charles addresses Canabeus as

.us Culvert

(3446), and strikes him dead, in a 7-line laisse.

CCL Charles is sad to see Naimon wounded,

.us Sur l'herbe verte le sanc tut cler caier

(3453), tells him to ride along with him, and Naimon promises

that Charles won't be sorry. They ride together,

.us par amur e par feid,

with them 20,000 French, all fighting.

CCLI The emir rides forward and kills Guneman, Beguin, Lorant,

Richard the old, leader of the Normans. The pagans shout their

appreciation, again mentioning "Precieuse."

CCLII More admiration for the beauty and sorrow of battle.

CCLIII The admiration carries over to the top of this laisse,

including the suffering of imagined viewers. The emir calls upon

Apollo, Tervagan and Mahomet,

.us Mi damnedeu,

promising to make golden images of them in exchange for their

services (line not in O). Gemalfin brings

.us Males nuveles,

that Malpramis, Canabeus were killed by Frenchmen whom he cannot

name, but only describe, providing a pretext for another

.us effictio

of Charles:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Li empereres en est l'uns, $o m'est vis:

Granz ad le cors, ben resenblet marchis,

Blanche ad la barbe cume flur en avrill. (3501-3)

.co on

.in 0

Baligant lowers his head, thinks of dying, calls Jangleu

l'ultremarin.

CCLIV He praises him with familiar terms,

.us Vos estes proz e vostre saveir est grant,

then asks him to predict the outcome of the battle.

Jangleu shows none of the courtier's skills, but

tells him outright:

.us Morz estes, Baligant!

(3513); Jangleu advises him to call upon all of his men without

delay.

CCLV Baligant puts his beard,

.us Altresi blanche cume flur en espine,

over his byrnie, sounds the call and his men rally round, making

animal sounds. The attack the French, and the laisse ends:

.us A icest colp en jetent mort .VII. milie

(3530).

CCLVI Ogier, after 2 lines of panegyric by the poet, calls

Thierry of Argonne, Geoffrey of Anjou, and Jozeran, and

then calls upon Charles provocatively:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Ja Deu ne placet qu'el chef portez corone,

S'or n'i ferez pur venger vostre hunte! (3538-39)

.co on

.in 0

Silence is the response, and they charge forward.

CCLVII Charles continues to fight well, aided by Naimon,

Ogier the Dane, Geoffrey of Anjou. Ogier knocks down Ambure,

who is carrying the standard and dragon of the emir. Seeing

this humiliation, Baligant perceives

.us Que il ad tort e Carlemagnes dreit

(3554). Charles calls upon his men, who answer that there is

no need to ask what only a wretch would fail to do.

CCLVIII Night approaches and the battle continues.

.co off

.in 5 -5

Li amiralz "Precieuse!" ad criee,

Carles "Munjoie!", l'enseigne renumee. (3564-65)

.co on

.in 0

The two leaders now battle.

CCLVIX Neither is fearful; they whip out their swords and

begin swinging, tearing the equipment from each other's

body, until in a sense they are battling

.us nud a nud sur lur bronies

(3585). The laisse concludes with justice in mind again:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Ceste bataille ne poet remaneir unkes,

Josque li uns sun tort i reconuisset. (3587-88)

.co on

.in 0

CCLX The emir and Charles offer each other mutually unacceptable

terms. The emir demands that Charles become

.us mes hom.

Charles demands that the emir accept Christianity. Baligant replies,

.us Malvais sermun cumences!

(3600) and they recommence fighting.

CCLXI The emir cuts into Charles helmet, tearing some of his flesh,

laying bare the bone:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Prent de la carn grant pleine palme e plus:

Iloec endreit remeint li os tut nut. (3606-7)

.co on

.in 0

Gabriel saves Charles, appearing with a question that ends

the laisse:

.us Reis magnes, que fais tu?

(3611)

CCLXII Hearing the voice of the angel, Charles has no more

fear; his strength returns and he strikes the emir dead.

He shouts "Munjoie!" and Naimon arrives, bringing Tencendur.

The FRench have won.

CCLXIII The pagans flee, in accordance with God's will:

.us Paien s'en fuient, cum Damnedeus le volt

(3625). Urged on by Charles, the French slaughter the fleeing

paynims.

CCLXIV Great heat and dust now,

.us Franz est li calz, si se levet la puldre

(3633). The flight to Saragossa, where Bramidonie stands on

a tower, together with the clergymen of the

.us false lei.

Seeing the defeat, she cries out that the emir is dead. Marsilion

weeps, his head falls, and he dies of

.us doel

(3646), his soul departing (last line of the laisse)

.us as vifs diables

(3647).

CCLXV The French invest the city: Bramidonie hands over the

10 large and the 15 small towers, and the poet offers in the

last line of the laisse a moral:

.us Mult ben espleitet qui Damnesdeus aiuet

(3657).

CCLXVI Night and the stars shine. 1000 French search the city,

.us Les sinagoges e les mahumeries

(3662) (Jews and Arabs synonymous), breaking idolatrous images,

in yet another example of pious violence. Pagans choose

baptism or death. More than 100,000 accept baptism. The queen

resists and Charles has her brought back to

.us France dulce

because (last line of the laisse)

.us $o voelt li reis par amur cunvertisset

(3674).

CCLXVII In the morning Charles garrisons the towers with 1000

.us chevalers.

They set off through Narbonne (not in Provence, but a town in

Basque country), Bordeaux, depositing the

.us olifan

on the altar of saint Sevrin, where, the poet says, pilgrims

today can see it. They cross the Gironde, bringing the bodies of

Roland, Oliver and Turpin,

.us ki fut sages e proz

(3691) as far as Blaye (in Aquitaine),

where they are buried in St. Romain. The rest of the trip to Aix

takes 2 lines. Charles now turns his attention to the trial of

Ganelon, calling Saxons, Bavarians, Frisians, Lorrains,

Burgundians, Alemannians, Normans, Poitevins and Bretons,

.us De cels de France des plus saives qui sunt

(3713) to sit in judgement.

CCLXVIII Aude meets Charles at Aix and delivers the question,

.us O est Rollant le catanie

(3709), which Charles had predicted in laisse CCVIII.

Charles unhappily weeps and tugs on his beard, then delivers

four lines in the course of which he offers an exchange:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Soer, cher'amie, d'hume mort me demandes.

Jo t'en durai mult esforcet eschange:

$o est Loewis, mielz ne sai a parler;

Il est mes filz e si tendrat mes marches. (3713-16)

.co on

.in 0

His words fail; she says, in three lines, beginning with

.us Cest mot cei est estrang,

that

God, the saints and the angels do not wish her to survive Roland.

She faints at Charles' feet and all weep.

CCLXIX The famous first line of the stanza:

.us Alde la bel' est a sa fin alee

(3723). Thinking that she has only fainted, Charles lifts

her up, but her head falls back. He calls 4 countesses,

who take her to a nunnery to keep watch all night. She is

then buried with high honors. Margaret, wife of King Malcolm

of Scotland died in 1093 when she heard of her husband's death.

Aeneid III.312, Andromache says:

.us Hector ubi est.

CCLXX Ganelon is now brought to trial, in chains, beaten by his

guards, who are of low social standing.

CCLXXI Charles has called together men from many lands to

assemble for the trial at Aix, taking place at feast of saint

Sylvester (Dec 31).

CCLXXII Charles accuses Ganelon of having betrayed 20,000

Frenchmen, including Roland, Oliver

.us li proz e li curteis

(3755), and the twelve peers. Ganelon denies that his action was

.us traisun,

insisting that he was taking vengeance for wrongs done to him and

his property by Roland. The laisse ends with the sober reply of

the French:

.us Ore en tendrum cunseill

(3761).

CCLXXIII Ganelon stands tall, providing, like some of

the pagans earlier in the poem, the simulacrum of virtue:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Cors ad gaillard, el vis gente color;

S'il fust leials, ben resemblast barun. (3763-64)

.co on

.in 0

Compare with the description of Roland's corpse when Charles

comes upon it:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Cors ad gaillard, perdue ad sa culur,

Turnez ses oilz, mult li sunt tenebros (2895-96).

.co on

.in 0

Accidental or intentional irony in reoccurence of formula?

Thirty of Ganelon's kin are there. He cries out to the assembly

that he is loyal to the emperor, that Roland was out to kill him,

.us Si me jugat a mort e a dulur

(3772). His argument again is

.us Ventet m'en sui, mais n'i ad traisun

(3778). Again the laisse ends with noncommital remark:

.us Respundent Francs: "A conseill en irums."

CCLXXIV Ganelon's leading relative is Pinabel,

.us del castel de Sorence,

who is described as a good speaker, thoughtful, and valiant.

Ganelon calls to him to save him, and Pinabel offers to fight

for him in a trial by combat. The laisse ends with Ganelon

on his knees to Pinabel.

For trials by combat, see Tanon,

.us Historie

pp. 16 ff. where,

.us inter alia,

examples can be found of duels over church property, one of

which was fought from the second hour until sunset, won by the

monastery of Beaulieu. RHF VIII.67, XIV.118, VI.429, VI.313(8?),

XXIII.339, XI.357, X.231.

CCLXXV Bavarians, Saxons, Poitevins, Norman, French, Allemanians,

Thiois (Low Germans), Auvergnians (

.us li plus curteis)

begin discussing the case, at first deciding to call off the trial,

for pragmatic reasons. Roland is dead and cannot be brought back

.us por or ne por aveir

(3803), and Pinabel is too formidable (although his name is

missing from O, and J. supplies a conjecture of

.us ja

for the mysterious

.us aa

of O without supplying a name). The only one who will not agree to

this decision is Thierry, brother of Geoffrey.

CCLXXVI They return to Charles, advise him

.us clamez quiete le cunte Ganelun

of whom the say

.us mult est gentilz hoem

(3811). His reply takes only part of the last line of the laisse:

.us Vos estes mi felun

(3814).

CCLXXVII He lowers his head with grief; Thierry comes before him,

now identified as Angevin, and given an unflattering

.us effictio:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Heingre out le cors e graisle e eschewid,

Neir les chevels e alques bruns le vis;

N'est gueres granz ne trop nen est petiz. (3820-22)

.co on

.in 0

See Alice Colby for the proper hero.

He gaves the appropriate legal reasons for punishing Ganelon:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Que que Rollant a Guenelun forsfesist,

Vosre servise l'en do~st bien guarir. (3827-28)

.co on

.in 0

He should be hanged,

.us Si cume fel ki felonie fist

(3834). See below where in fact Ganelon is not hanged.

Thierry challenges any of Ganelon's kinsmen to trial

by combat, and the French reply ends the laisse with

.us Or avez vos ben dit.

CCLXXVIII Pinabel,

.co off

.in 5 -5

Granz est e forz e vassals e isnel,

Qu'il fiert a colp, de sun tens n'i ad mais. (3839-40)

.co on

.in 0

comes before the king and accepts the challenge, offering a

glove. The emperor demands hostages, and 30 kinsmen of Ganelon

offer themselves.

CCLXXIX Thierry offers his glove; Charles has four benches

brought, and the fighters sit on them. Ogier the Dane seems to

be in charge of protocol.

CCLXXX They confess and receive absolution before the battle,

hear mass and receive communion, leaving large offerings to

churches. They appear before Charles, dressed for battle, and

100,000 men weep for Roland and Thierry; the last line of the

laisse piously Augustinian:

.us Deus set asez cument la fins en ert

(3872).

CCLXXXI A description of the battle, with the laisse ending

with 100,000 men weeping and watching.

CCLXXXII Both get down on the ground, stand up and pound away.

The french knights are distressed and Charles in the last line of

the laisse calls upon God to set things right.

CCLXXXIII Pinabel offers to yield,

.us Tes hom serai par amur e par feid

(3893), if Thierry will arrange for an accord between Charles and

Ganelon. Thierry refuses, claiming that God will show

.us le droit

(3899) between them.

CCLXXXIV

Thierry praises Pinabel, and calls for an end to the

battle, offering to make an accord between Pinabel and

Charlemagne, and let justice be served against Ganelon.

Pinabel refuses, in the name of God,

.us Ne placet Damnedeu!

He must defend his kin, and the battle goes one.

CCLXXXV The grass takes fire from their blows. Pinabel cuts off

some of Thierry' face, but God protects Thierry's life.

CCLXXVI Thierry sees his blood dropping

.us el pred herbus

(3925), strikes Pinabel with his sword and kills him. The French

recognize that a miracle has taken place,

.us Deus i ad fait vertut!

(3931), and proclaim in chorus that Ganelon and his kin should

be hanged.

CCLXXXVII Charles, accompanied by Naimon, Ogier, Geoffrey of

Anjou and William of Blaye approach Thierry, whom Charles

embraces, wipes his face with the royal sable, then fastidiously

puts it aside for another (3940-41). Disarmed, Thierry is

mounted on an Arabian mule and brought back to Aix, where in

the last line of the laisse they begin the killing.

CCLXXXVIII Charles asks his gentry what to do about the hostages,

and the French enthusiastically reply:

.us Ja mar en vivrat uns!

(3951). Charles summons one of his

.us veiers

("police lieutenant" --J.), Basbrun, and tells him to hang them

all, threatening to kill Basbrun if one escapes. Basbrun's reply,

.us Qu'en fereie jo el?

shows a touch either of military or ghetto humor.

100 sargants take them away and hang them.

CCLXXXIX Bavarians, Alemanians, Poitevins, Bretons and Normans

agree that Ganelon should die

.us par merveillus ahan

(3963). Four horses tear him apart, with martyr-like detail,

and a return of the motif of green grass:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Trestuit si nerf mult li sunt estandant

E tuit li membre de sun cors derumpant:

Sur l'erbe verte en espant le cler sance. (3970-72)

.co on

.in 0

CCXC Charles now calls the bishops of France, Bavaria, and

Alemania to tell them of the pagan queen who is his prisoner,

but is prepared for baptism. They tell him to provide

god-mothers for her, there is then a line missing in the MS,

and Bramimond is baptized as Juliana.

CCXCI Having achieved justice, appeased his anger, and

baptized Bramimond, Charles lies down at night and receives

yet another visit from the angel Gabriel, who gives him his next

assignment: ride to Elbira to help king Vivien whose city is

under pagan siege. The poem ends with Charles unhappy:

.co off

.in 5 -5

Li emperere n'i volsist aler mie:

"Deus," dist li reis, "si penuse est ma vie!"

Pluret des oilz, sa barbe blance tiret.

Ci falt la geste que Turoldus declinet. (3999-4002)

.co on

.in 0

X.

.us Roland

8th century plus Crusades beginning at the end of the 11th.

Poem perhaps early 12th century. Human battles, with generous

sprinkling

of the divine, most dramatically in the

apotheosis of Roland, and the victory of Pinabel at the end of

the second part.

.pp An attempt at world-wide if not universal significance,

since the battles fought involve Africans, Asians, various

kinds of Europeans.

.pp First read through: what are the favorite repetitions,

what are the favorite, obsessive, relentless symmetries,

antitheses. What are the significances of these formal

structures. Is there a "structure of exchange"?

Consider also the opening and closing lines of individual

laisses. What kind of "speech-act" takes place? Is it

significant in terms of the emotion the poet is trying to

generate? Do these considerations

help to distinguish the poem from

.us Beowulf?

.pp Begin with Auerbach's objections, to introduce problems of

style, social structure, antithetic tendencies of the imagination.

Spitzer's

.us Harmony

and Curtius on

.us sapientia et fortitudo.

Look at material supplied by Einhard and Notker the

Babbler, then at pseudo-Turpin.

.pp Review Crusade material, perhaps Fulker of Chartres;

recommend Runciman, others. Check for translations of

Guibert, others.

.pp Consider Turpin's sermonizing and that of Urban II at

council of Clermont, 1095.

.pp Most elaborate commentary and edition in English: Gerald

J. Brault,

.us The Song of Roland,

University Park, 1978. (p. xiii) Feudalism and Christianity

conflict in the poem; the poet sees the world in "unrelieved

black and white."

.pp (p. 119) Saragossa is located on a mountain top in the

poem and in a valley in reality, to support the vertical

patterns in the poem, and the rising imagery, as well as symbol

of pride. Brault regularly refers to Romanesque art (cf Nichols?);

see also Louis Reau

.us Histoire de la peinture au moyen #ge,

Melun, 1946, p. 103; B>dier,

.us Leg. ep.

4:443, and Charlemagne-window at Chartres. Brault's

index, under iconography, pp. 541-43 also useful.

.pp See also Robert F. Cook,

.us The Sense of the Song of Roland,

Ithaca, 1987 PQ1522 C66 1987; Joseph J. Duggan,

.us Song of Roland,

Berkeley, 1973; Eugene Vance,

.us Reading the Song of Roland,

Englewood Cliffs, 1970; Pierre LeGentil,

.us The Chanson de Roland,

Cambridge, 1969; Paul Aebischer,

.us Rolandia et Oliveriana,

Geneva, 1967; Ramon Mendez Pidal,

.us La Chanson de Roland et la tradition >pique des Francs,

Paris, 1960, transl. by Iren>e-Marcel Cluzel.

.pp M-P (p.viii) "nous nous attacherons @ montrer que cette

forme d'art repose sur une perpetuelle recr>ation, par une

suite de po<tes anonymes, mais conscients et lucides, de l'oeuvre

h>rit>e de la tradition."

.pp M-P (p. 188) Although Latin historians are interested in

showing the expansion of Charles' power into Spain, and Arab

historians are documenting a rebellion at Saragossa against

Abderrahman, they do agree in four areas: (1) Ibn Al-Arabi

summoned Charles, (2) who received hostages from him; (3) Charles

set out for Saragossa, and took Ibn Al-Arabi prisoner. (4)

Charles' army was attacked by surprise in a Basque Christian

territory (see Brault for Gascon, not Basque attackers).

.pp Brault (p. 12) Oliver named after olive tree, biblical

symbol of divine wisdom.

.us fortitudo et sapientia

connected with

.us auxilium et consilium,

definition also of feudal obligations [see George Fenwick

Jones,

.us The Ethos of the Song of Roland,

Baltimore, 1963, p. 23]. Turpin, however, (3691) is

.us sages e proz,

though not necessarily superior to either O. or R.

.pp blood stains the flowers (2871); see Sifrid's death in

.us Nibelungenlied,

and battle scenes in historical literature ("In Flander's

fields the poppies").

.pp Jean-Charles Payen,

.us Le motif de repentir etc.,"

Geneva, Droz, 1968, p. 137, for deliberately chosen martyrdom

as "point" of the poem.

.pp Oliver's rhetorical strategy,

.us antistrephon,

also Job's, (24.19-20, 22-25).

.pp On Pseudo-Turpin: (ed.) C. Meredith-Jones,

.us Historia Karoli magni et Rotholandi,

1936, and Slatkine, Geneva, 1972; also, Adalbert Hamel and Andre

de Mandach,

.us Der Pseudo-Turpin von Compestela,

Munich, Beck, 1965.

.pp Rychner proposes structural regularities: laisses, stereotyped

formulae, recurrent themes (royal ingratitude, battles, the death

of the hero) and motifs (duels, ritual insults before and after

battle, prayers, laments, weeping, dreams). He offers only one

example in

.us Roland

of recapitulation (2769-87).

.pp George Fenwick Jones finds shame culture in

.us Roland

overwhelms guilt-culture that is typical of Christianity (again,

Old Testament neglected).

.pp W.J. Brandt, in

.us The Shape of Medieval History,

Yale, 1966, argues that chronicles present aristocratic or

clerical view of the world (with Boethius/Augustine results,

though he doesn't use Pickering's scheme, which appears in the

next decade). Aristocrat adopted narrative, cleric rhetorical

mode [completely misunderstands nature of rhetoric and history

in the Middle Ages, presumably].

.pp Paul Archambault distinguishes between "mirror" (recounting

events) and "window" (analytic) chroniclers, in

.us Seven French Chroniclers,

Syracuse, 1974.

.pp Ganelon's good looks generate some discussion (Brault, 37-38),

with the poet of the

.us Rolandslied

drawing an explicit moral; he also provides specific parallels with

Judas, mentioning the devil as well: Satan, in Hebrew, "accuser."

Conrad also compares the bonds between and among heroes to those of

priests and Levites, Psalm 133. Pinabel/Thierry = David/Goliath

specifically in Conrad.

.pp R. Mortier,

.us Les textes de la Chanson de Roland,

10 vols, paris, 1940-41.

.sk

Laborde and Charles Samaran, a phototype reproduction of the MS,

Paris, 1932.

.sk

Matthias Waltz,

.us Rolandslied, Wilhelmslied, Alexiuslied,

Heidelberg, 1965.

.sk

Karl-Heinz Bender,

.us K%nig und Vassal,

Heidelberg, 1967.

.pp Aebischer, in discussing J. Horrent,

.us Le P>l<rinage de Charlemagne,

Liege, 1961,

envisions a "literary termite" at work (p. 331) in the ironic

.us chanson de geste.

.pp He and Horrent disagree (pp. 310 ff.)

on how to interpret Charlemagne sitting

in Christ's seat at Last Supper, with his men in the seats of the

apostles, looking at the paintings on the wall. Check the story

involving baptism of Jew.

.pp Having seen the poem as anti-clerical, Aebischer alters his

opinion, partly in response to Horrent, proclaiming the

.us Pilgrimage

an attack on Charles' vanity (p. 314).

.pp Oliver's

.us gab

presents a problem, revolving around a missing line in the Ms.;

does he merely kiss Hugo's daughter, or perform his

.us gab

30 times, or just exactly what?

.pp Consider the Pseudo-Turpin and the Voyage (its sometime

preface), and the discussions of its significance, genre,

intentions.

Ronald Walpole,

.us Philip Mousque and Pseudo-Turpin,

Berkeley, 1947, and reviews in Speculum 23 (1948) 728-32, and

Med. Aev. 17 (1948), 37-45.

.sk

Ronald N. Walpole,

.us on

The Old French Johannes Translation of the Pseudo-Turpin

Chronicle,

.us off

Berkeley, 1976. (xiii) "An excessive credulity is a form of the

medieval mentality, and we are not put out when we find it in a

Bede or in a Limousin Astronomer. Naivete is not reprehensible

in those for whom sophistication is out of reach." But Bede

offers more qualifications than Pseudo-Turpin or Primat, and

Walpole entirely neglects to consider the

trickiness involved.

.pp Pseudo-Turpin inserts story that St. James of Compostella

invited Charles to free his burial place at Compostella from

Saracens.

.pp (xvi) Johannes improved the Latin test, out of "sincerity"

and "warmer feelings."

.pp (xvii) Journey to Holy Land originated at end of 11th

century, obscurely;

.us chanson de geste

discussed by Aebisher as a parody of this particular text?

see also C.M. Jones,

.us Historia KM,

Paris, 1936, and perhaps, S. Thomson,

.us Latin Book Hands 1100-1500,

Cambridge, 1969.

.pp Ganelon was a ninth-century bishop of Sens, who betrayed

Charles the Bald in favor of his brother Louis the German,

though with no significant consequences for anyone, since

Louis' men then backed out as well. Consider the Carolingian

reminiscences in the poem: the repeated

high mountains and deep valleys or vales that express via

pathetic fallacy resemble very closely in form and function

the lines of Florus of Lyon:

.co off

.in 5 -5

The mountains and hills, woods and rivers, springs,

High cliffs and deep valleys too,

All bemoan the Frankish people, which, after its rise to empire by

the gift of Christ,

Now lies covered in ashes.

.co on

.in 0

.pp Consider the antitheses discussed for

.us Beowulf,

and add feudal schemes, if possible.

.us Melanges Ren> Louis

pp. CXLIV-CIL contains a description of

.us on

Le myst<re de Roland. Des r>ticences des annalistes officiles

aux amplifications >piques des trouv<res (Entretien recueilli

par Sophie Leroy),

.us off

in

.us Charlemagne et la renaissance carolingienne,

numero s>ecial des

.us Dossiers de l'Archeologie

XXX (1978), pp. 90-103 and 114-123.

Louis argues that the primitive

.us Chanson de Roland

offered enmity between Roland, son of sister of Charlemagne,

and Ganelon, noble who married that same sister after the

illegitimate birth of Roland. Charlemagne was then his

incestuous father. Roland represents those at court

who wanted to continue the war against Marsilion, Ganelon

those who wnted to return to France. Conflict between Roland

and Oliver is a late addition. The original poem, then,

represented both the ancient notion of most powerful hero

generated by incest, and the political factionalism at

Carolingian court.

.pp Ren> Louis, "De Livier @ Olivier," in

.us on

M>langes de philologie et d'histoire litt>raire du

Moyen Age offers @ Maurice Delbouille,

.us off

as described, pp. CXVIII-CXXVI of

.us on

La Chanson de geste et le mythe carolingien: M>langes

Ren> Louis,

.us off

Saint-P<re V>zelay, 1982, 2 vols. Louis' hypothesis is that

the

.us Chanson de Roland

is the result of a long series of accretions, and is not the

product of a single writer at a single time. He looks for the

first instance of the baptismal name Oliver, which first occurs

towards the end of the 10th century among the subscribers to

the abbey of Savigny (Rh*ne, arr. Ly, cant. L'Arbresle).

Ren> Louis suggests that the name is derived from Livier,

Liberius-Liverius, the name of several earlier saints, and

of Pope Lib<re. He goes on to trace the role of Oliver as

the pacifying member of the duo.

Eugene Vance,

.us Mervelous Signals,

Lincoln, 1986. PN688 V36 1986.

An essay on

.us Roland,

pp. 51-85.

Lincoln, 1986. PN688 V36 1986. Two essays on Augustine,

one on

.us Roland,

one on Chr>tien, one on Chaucer's

.us Troilus and Cr.

Henry Chanteux,

.us Recherche sur la Chanson de Roland,

Caen, 1985. described by Susan E. Farrier in

.us Speculum 62 (1987), pp. 917-919.

Much concern with speaking well, out of wisdom, restraining

emotion, impulse.

:eGDOC